Behind This Mask
by Lady Callista
Summary: After the Winter War ends, Rangiku decides she needs a new challenge to keep herself from being bored. And landing Kuchiki Byakuya is the most interesting and difficult one she can think of. Chapter-fic, Rangiku/Byakuya, Series: After The Winter War
1. A Wonderful Awful Idea

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I'm just playing with them for awhile. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: The second main fic in the "After The Winter War" series, as chosen by a poll of my readers. This one is centered on Rangiku and Byakuya, but like the others will also feature many other characters and will weave together with other stories. (As you can tell from the very first chapter. If you're read No Warm Memories, some of this chap will be a little familiar. Bear with me, as NWM was my inspiration for the series several fics will start from that point.) For anyone not familiar with my style, I watch fansubbed, so I think in terms of Shinigami and Taicho, not Soul Reapers and Captains, and my writing style reflects that. There is a glossary at the end, but as I've noticed many writers write this way it shouldn't really be necessary if you read enough Bleach fanfic. Oh, and as the anime episode that says all Noble Houses have a family Senkaimon to the real world is a filler episode, I'm not sure if they have them in the manga or not, but we're going to say that they do.

* * *

Behind This Mask

By Lady Callista

Chapter 1: A Wonderful Awful Idea

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_Because thou has the power and own'st the grace_

_To look through and behind this mask of me…_

_And behold my soul's true face._

_-Elizabeth Barrett Browing, Sonnets from the Portuguese_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"Ah, Rukia-san, I'm so glad I found you." Rangiku cried out as she approached the younger girl at a run.

"What is it, Matsumoto-fukutaicho?" Rukia asked as she stopped walking.

"Have you seen Hitsugaya-taicho? Cause he'd said he was going over to your squad's barracks, but now I can't find him anywhere. And I need his help with some of the paperwork…"

"I know he came to see our taicho, but he left after they talked and I've not seen him since then." Rukia replied.

"Hey, you looking for your taicho?" Kira Izuru called out as he walked by.

"Yeah, where is he?" Rangiku turned to ask her friend.

"I heard they opened a Senkaimon for him." Izuru replied. "Apparently he had some business with Kurosaki."

Rangiku blinked. "Uh, thanks."

Izuru nodded as he continued on whatever business he'd been on.

"Uh, Kuchiki-sama, I have a favor to ask."

Rukia's eyes widened as Rangiku addressed her formally. "Um, what is it?"

"Can I use your family's gate?"

Rukia's eyes grew even wider. "But if he just went to see Ichigo…"

Rangiku sighed, remembering back a few nights past when she'd sat on the roof of Histugaya's office with him and he'd told her about Kurosaki Karin. "I'm not sure that's what he did. Um, I really can't say much, as I'd rather not be turned into a pillar of ice for talking about it, but he told me about some business he had in the real world that kinda concerns me, but I don't want to use an official gate and have him know I'm there." If they'd even let her go. Knowing Hitsugaya, he'd left orders for her not to follow him.

"Um, Matsumoto, wouldn't he have asked you to come with him if his business concerns you?"

"Oh, no, I didn't mean it involved me, I meant I'm worried about it." Rangiku replied quickly.

"Ah." Rukia frowned. "I'm sure Nii-sama would object, but he should be training with his squad right about now, so what he doesn't know…" Rukia pulled a small note card from the collar of her uniform and handed it to Rangiku. "Give this to the guards on the gate, and they'll let you through."

"Oi, thank you so much." Rangiku replied as she gave the girl a quick hug, ignoring the protest as she always did. "I'll tell you what this is about someday if I can." And a shunpo later she was gone.

Rangiku ran as quickly as she could to the Kuchiki Estate, stopping only when she reached the gate in the wall around the estate grounds. A guard there called out to her to state her business.

"Matsumoto Rangiku, Juubantai fukutaicho, with permission from Kuchiki Rukia-sama to use the Kuchiki Senkaimon." Rangiku said, just a hint of pride in her voice. She'd come a long way from the streets of Rukongai, she thought dryly as she waited for permission to enter the estate of one of the four most powerful Noble Houses in Seireitei.

The guard opened the gate and held out his hand to her. Rangiku placed Rukia's card in his hand, and he looked at it briefly before nodding and sliding the card into his belt. "Oi!" He turned his head enough to call back, and a moment later another guard came out. "Please escort Matsumoto-fukutaicho to the Senkaimon. Instruct the guards that she has the use of it to leave and return."

The guard nodded, and gestured for Rangiku to come with him. He walked slower than she would have liked, but she knew better than to say so. Plus, even with the urgency she felt for getting to her taicho and finding out what he was up to, this was her first time walking the grounds of any of the nobility's estates. She'd been in the Kuchiki mansion a few times, but had never been able to just look around. She looked around her, awed by all the splendor and beauty.

Yet when she tried to speak with the guard about things, she either got yes or no responses, or only silence. There were servants attending to various duties around the grounds, and each stopped and bowed their heads slightly as she passed. An honored guest, she scoffed to herself. If this was how everyone acted she could understand why the stick up Kuchiki-taicho's ass had a stick up it's own ass.

Ah, speak of the taicho and he shall appear.

The guard escorting her froze as they entered a small rock garden obviously used for meditation. Rangiku could see the Senkaimon standing on the other side of the garden, but between it and her stood Kuchiki Byakuya, minus his taicho's haori, and balanced on one foot in a tai chi pose.

Rangiku paused beside the guard, but in her case it was in sheer regard for the spectacular male form in front of her. Byakuya was one of the men in Seireitei she'd always enjoyed looking at, and she didn't think any of the female Shinigami would disagree with her.

"Matsumoto-fukutaicho, what are you doing here?" He said without moving.

Of course, once he opened his mouth it was a different story.

"Kuchiki-taicho, good evening." Rangiku said, only slightly cheekily. "Your sister has given me permission to use your Senkaimon."

One eyebrow raised, and he slid out of his pose to stand there facing her. "Why?"

"Well, I just have some unfinished business from when I was living in the real world, but I didn't want to bother anyone with opening a gate, and then I ran into Rukia-san, so…" Rangiku lied through her teeth, annoyed that she couldn't read his face. Why did every guy she knew have to wear a damn mask?

Byakuya's eyes shifted slightly to the guard at her side. "She has permission?"

The guard bowed low. "Yes, Kuchiki-sama. She had one of your sister's cards."

His face showing nothing, Byakuya nodded and turned away from them to resume his tai chi.

Rangiku took one last look at the graceful figure as she followed the guard in a wide circle around him and stepped into the Senkaimon.

Once in the real world, she quickly sent her reiatsu out, looking for her taicho. She located Karakura Town's beacons of light one after another. Ichigo was wandering the town, the speed with which he was moving telling her he was patrolling. Ishida and Chad were both stationary, likely in their homes. Urahara and all his people were in his store. Orihime was outside, apparently walking somewhere. But of her taicho she could find no trace. He had to be hiding his reiatsu. Either so that Ichigo and the others wouldn't know he was here, or because he'd sensed her enter the real world.

She cursed again the masks men hid behind. He'd been completely normal for the past several days, acting as if their rooftop conversation hadn't happened. He hadn't mentioned Karin again, or seemed like he was even thinking about her. But she knew that had to be what he'd come here for.

Deciding the quickest way to find him would probably be to see if any of the others had seen him, Rangiku started for Orihime, who was the closest to her.

She landed silently next to a large open field, surprised to find the girl standing behind a tree and peaking out around it at something out of Rangiku's field of vision. "What are you doing out here, Orihime-chan?"

"Shh…" The girl in question hushed her, motioning her closer to the tree. "Karin-chan, ah, Kurosaki-kun's little sister came to my house to talk, and I just wanted to make sure she got home okay, so I kinda followed her. Oh, but…What are _you_ doing here? I thought you all went back to…"

"We did." Rangiku replied, her mind going a mile a minute as soon as Orihime mentioned Karin's name. Maybe that would be the easiest way to find her taicho. Just watch the girl. "But Hitsugaya decided to come back for…a…something, and now he's hiding his reiatsu so I can't find him, and I need to…"

Orihime giggled unexpectedly, her face turning slightly pink. "Um, look behind you."

Rangiku spun around, not sure what she was expecting to find. It certainly wasn't her taicho in jeans and a polo shirt playing soccer with Kurosaki Karin. Her mouth dropped open in shock as she saw him, almost, smile at Karin as he kicked her the ball.

Orihime giggled again. "I really should go home now, I'm sure he'll get her home safe, but they just look so cute. I don't think I've ever seen him smile before this."

It doesn't happen often, Rangiku thought with a sigh as she slung an arm around Orihime's shoulders. "I guess I can wait on what I wanted to tell him. Wanna go have some tea?"

Orihime smiled. "Sure."

OoOoOoOoOoO

Ichigo had interrupted them just as they were about to leave, and it had taken her a little while to talk him out of killing her taicho. Then she'd started talking with Orihime about how the girl liked Ichigo, and how her taicho and Ichigo both wore similar masks, and as a result she was very deep in thought as her and Orihime finally approached the younger girl's apartment.

She'd just finished telling Orihime about her strange relationship with Gin, well, not all of it, the girl was only 15 after all, and was desperately thinking of how to lighten the conversation. She remembered Byakuya's own mask earlier and smirked as an idea came to her.

"I was talking with some of my friends the other night, and I joked that no man in Seireitei would say no to me if I wanted to date him. But I know of at least one who would. He's even colder and gruffer than my taicho, or than Kurosaki, and he's not even my friend." Rangiku was trying hard to lighten the mood, and to move the conversation along. She really did think Orihime should tell Ichigo how she felt about him, and decided a little push was necessary. "I'm thinking of going after him just because it's a challenge. If I can do that, surely you can tell your friend, the one who basically followed you into hell just to rescue you, that you like him."

"Do you like this guy?" Orihime asked as she unlocked the door to her apartment. "Or is it just that it's a challenge?"

"Well, he's certainly handsome enough." Rangiku replied as she removed her sandals and followed Orihime into the kitchen. She hadn't expected a question like that, and to be honest she'd just come up with the idea a moment ago, and didn't really know what to say. She did know one thing though. "I'd have to see under his mask first though. And I think it'll be much harder to crack that my taicho's was."

"How _did_ you crack Toshiro-kun's?" Orihime asked as she put the kettle on the stove.

"A little bit at a time, sister. A little bit at a time." Rangiku replied, hoping her advice would push the girl into going after Kurosaki. Even if he said he didn't like her as more than a friend, at least she would know. She wandered out into the living room after making sure Orihime didn't need help making the tea, her thoughts turning rapidly.

She'd only joked about going after Byakuya to lighten the mood, and to show Orihime that her situation could be worse. But now the idea had wormed itself into her mind and refused to let go.

It certainly would be a challenge. Toshiro had only had half the time to build his mask as Byakuya had, and she'd had the advantage of working with him every day. Of being alone with him where they had time to talk.

Plus Toshiro's mask had been put on, at least mostly, by choice. As a prodigy, many of the other kids had made fun of him, and the more upset he got the more they'd mocked him, so he'd learned not to show them his feelings. And once he joined the Gotei Juusantai, he still looked like a child, so he had to act more grown-up than everyone else in order to be treated as an equal.

Byakuya had hidden behind his mask for over a hundred years, and she didn't know enough about him to know if he wanted it there or if it had to be there because he was a noble. From what she'd heard pretty much all the nobles acted like he did, and she didn't know him well enough, well, at all really, to know if there was another side to him or not. A side that wasn't just the Kuchiki prince.

And for some reason she was curious to find out.

Rangiku smiled at Orihime as she came out and handed her a cup of tea. It was the smile that Renji had once said belonged to 'Man-Eater Matsumoto.' It really would be a challenge. But Rangiku was always up for a challenge. If nothing else it would keep her from being bored now that the war was over.

TBC…

* * *

Glossary:

Fukutaicho: Vice Captain, or Assistant Captain, or Lieutenant

Gotei Juusantai: 13 Imperial Court Divisions, or 13 Court Guard Squads

Juubantai: 10th Division

Rukongai: "Wandering Soul City," Rukon District in the dub. Where all those in Soul Society live who aren't part of Seireitei.

Seireitei: Court of Pure Souls, where the Shinigami and Nobles live in Soul Society

Senkaimon: "World Penetration Gate," the gate between Seireitei and the real world.

Shunpo: Flash Step

Taicho: Captain


	2. Dreams and Memories

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I'm just playing with them for awhile. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: The second main fic in the "After The Winter War" series. This one is centered on Rangiku and Byakuya, but like the others will also feature many other characters and will weave together with other stories. Oh, and if you're wondering about the M rating: Yes, it's for lime and lemon content.

AN2: It's going to be difficult to keep them IC for this fic, so any feedback on their characterizations would be helpful. Lazyguy90's description of Bya, "The stick up his ass has a stick up its ass" kinda stuck with me as being perfect, yet at the same time I began to wonder if the public and private faces of Byakuya were the same or different. After all, I've read enough fiction about nobility who have vastly different faces for their subjects than they do around their friends or family that I couldn't help but wonder. So if Bya seems like he's OOC when he's alone, or later on in the fic for various other reasons, remember that we've never really seen his private self so I'm using fanfic-liberties to imagine what it could be. Also, as opposed to "No Warm Memories," where I pretty much decided to use everyone's given names when narrating 3rd person, I'm going to try to use Kuchiki (and -sama and -taicho) vs. Byakuya in a very telling manner. Let me know if it gets annoying or seems wrong.

* * *

Behind This Mask

By Lady Callista

Chapter 2: Yume to Omoide

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_Sometimes people carry to such perfection the mask they have assumed that in due course they actually become the person they seem._

_-William Somerset Maugham_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

Several weeks had passed since she first got the idea in her head to go after Kuchiki Byakuya, and Matsumoto Rangiku was certain of two things. Relationship wise, anyway.

One was that her taicho had snuck down to the human world again the other day, and had begun a relationship with Kurosaki Karin. And from the far-off look in his eyes that she occasionally noticed when he didn't know she was watching him, things had apparently gone well. She knew that he'd already kissed the girl, because she'd caught him touching his lips once when that far-away look was in his eyes, and he'd turned bright red when she'd offered him a penny for his thoughts.

She knew better than to let on that she knew though, because if Hitsugaya thought anyone could tell just by looking at him he was likely to stop the relationship for fear of it being discovered, and she felt he deserved the happiness.

Happiness.

Ah, young love. She remembered it; she remembered when love and sex had been all about joy, and emotion, and not being able to think completely straight when you were with the object of your love.

It hadn't been about calculation or games. It hadn't been a challenge, or a way to alleviate boredom. Well, at least not on her part, she could never be truly sure now what it had been on her lover's side. But for her, it had been pure and sweet. Because the wonder of first love was that you were ignorant of the fact that it could end.

The second thing she was certain of was that getting her own romance started was going to be more difficult than she'd initially thought.

Not that she'd thought landing Kuchiki-sama would be easy, but it was proving to be much more of a challenge than she'd thought it would be. Mostly because it was impossible to even _gain an audience _with him.

She'd tried attending a few of his division's training sessions, with the excuse that afterwards her and Renji trained to help her achieve bankai. And it wasn't exactly an excuse; as she'd told Hitsugaya the other week, she really did want to get stronger.

She'd been so lazy with training over the years. She was on par with most of the fukutaicho, and had no desire to be a taicho, so she'd found no reason to train when she could drink or gamble with friends instead.

But those three bitches had certainly been a wake-up call. Bankai was now one of the two things she most wanted. The other was Kuchiki-taicho. Well, not him per-say, but she was growing sick and tired of being alone. She just wasn't used to it. She'd always had someone to relieve her tensions if she really needed it.

She'd held out hope for her first love until the Winter War ended: maybe he was a double agent, maybe he could be turned back to their side, maybe the two of them could ignore the war and just run away together, maybe…

She was now living firmly in the now, she reminded herself, not the past or the maybe or the what-might-have-been.

But Kuchiki-taicho rarely attended his division's trainings, preferring to leave that to Renji. So she couldn't _accidentally _run into him there. He also didn't go out socially at all as far as she could tell; if he wasn't in the Rokubantai office or moving around Seireitei on business he was in his mansion.

She'd gone to the office a few times on legitimate business, but had never gotten to see him. Instead, one of his lower seats had informed her that he was busy and taken whatever paperwork she had brought, promising to give it to him when he was free.

And she had no reason at all to go to the house.

Rangiku lay in her bed, her thoughts running in circles as sleep eluded her, and tried to figure out how to win this challenge with herself if she couldn't even find a way to talk to him.

_OoOoOoOoO That same night OoOoOoOoO_

"I can't believe they did that." Rukia fumed the instant the door closed behind all of the Kuchiki family's members, advisors, and sycophants.

"I'm actually surprised they waited this long." Kuchiki-sama's calm voice contrasted with his adopted sister's. "Think what would have happened to the family if we'd both been killed in Hueco Mundo, or in the final stand against Aizen."

"But to order you to marry again after what they did to…" Rukia stopped just shy of saying her sister's name. She'd only said it a few times since Byakuya-nii-sama had revealed the truth, and every time she'd seen the slight tick next to his eye that meant he'd rather not speak of it.

"At least they haven't tried to pick out the woman yet." Kuchiki sighed.

"How can you be so calm about this?" Rukia rose, both because she wanted to pace the dais and because she'd been in seiza long enough that even the minor fidgeting she always did wouldn't keep her legs from falling asleep if she sat much longer.

Her brother watched her with patient eyes. "This family has been running my life for over 100 years. It's their job. Why would they stop now?"

"But…"

"Rukia, why are you always so upset by these meetings?" Still sitting seiza, still looking as calm and collected as he'd been through the entire three-hour audience, Kuchiki watched her with a raised eyebrow as she continued to pace. "You know how things work."

"Because you're supposed to be in charge, yet you let them order you around." Rukia stopped pacing long enough to plant her hands on her hips and glare at him. "What's the point of being the Kuchiki heir? What does it matter who holds the laughable title of 'Prince of the Family' when it's the family and advisors that run it anyway?"

Kuchiki sighed again, unable to understand why it still bothered her. It was how it had always been; how all the noble families were. "They deal with all the details I don't want to worry about. And when it really matters, I can make them back down."

Rukia shook her head emphatically and started pacing again. "At least they had the sense not to try to make me marry as well. I can't wait for them to see what I'll do if they ever try to…"

"And what would you do?"

"I'd pick the most unsuitable person possible and parade him around in their faces. Someone that they would hate everything about. Someone who has no manners, and knows nothing of nobility." Rukia paced faster as she ranted, her voice growing louder and more assertive on each sentence. "Someone loud and vivacious. Someone who wouldn't ever give in to them. You should find someone like that, and parade her in front of them. Make them back down. Find someone who, no matter what they tried to do, wouldn't cave in. Wouldn't change who they were, or pretend to be someone they weren't…"

Both of Kuchiki's eyebrows were raised by the time Rukia's impressive display of temper trailed off. He tried to remember the last time he'd felt that passionate, that emotional, about anything. And came up with a complete blank.

"And they would simply forbid you, or me, to see them, and order us to choose someone more suitable." He finally said simply.

"Cause that worked so well when they tried it with you last time." Rukia retorted without thinking, then gasped and bowed to the ground. "Kuchiki-nii-sama….forgive me…"

"It's alright, Rukia." Kuchiki's voice was surprisingly mild. "Their only objection to your sister was that she wasn't nobility. If she'd had all the qualities you just listed, I'm sure they would have found a way to prevent the marriage. Added to that, I somehow doubt a person like the one you just described would show any interest in being with me."

"Nii-sama, most of the women in Seireitei are interested in you, but they know you'll never give them the time of day." Rukia replied, smirking as she watched a shocked expression cross his face.

"I'm certain you are mistaken." He said after a moment. "But even if you were not, I see no reason to deliberately antagonize the family."

"Just think how much fun it would be." Rukia continued to smirk. "I mean, as long as the woman was willing to play along… It would be worth it to see the looks on their faces…"

Kuchiki raised an eyebrow again as he rose gracefully to face his sister. "Love should not be a game."

Rukia couldn't stop the laugh that escaped her lips. "I never said anything about actual love, nii-sama, just annoying the family by pretending to fall in love."

"But why would I want to date someone I could never fall in love with?" Kuchiki looked at her, his face still blank.

If it had been anyone else she would have thought they were teasing, but Rukia knew he was serious. She'd fought tooth and nail to have being a Kuchiki not change her too much, but knew that having been born in the family he'd never really stood a chance.

"What would be the point?" Her brother questioned as she remained silent.

Rukia sighed and gave up. "Never mind. Just remember when the family is driving you crazy over picking a wife that I had a way for you to get out of it."

"I will remember." Kuchiki nodded. "And I believe I will turn in for the night."

"I'm going to return to my barracks tonight; we have an early training tomorrow." Rukia bowed her head as he started to pass her. "Sleep well, Nii-sama."

"You as well." Kuchiki replied, reaching out carefully to lay a hand on her shoulder. He knew it would surprise her, but knew of no other way to show her his affection. He'd almost never said anything kind to her, and almost never touched her, in all the years since he'd adopted her. And touching her was slightly easier than voicing things to her. "Thank you for attending this meeting, and for your advice. I know it was well intentioned. Good night."

Leaving a stuttering Rukia in his wake, Kuchiki quietly swept out of the room in a swirl of haori and scarf.

Servants bowed out of his way as he strode down the hallways, moving as quickly as he could without appearing to be rushing.

At the doors to his suite he waved a hand of dismissal at his two valets and locked himself in his rooms.

And as the lock clicked into place under his hand Kuchiki-taicho allowed his face to change. The mask of nobility and difference melted away to show the frustration and strain of the day.

His taicho haori came off next, to be hung neatly in its place in his closet. Next to it went the scarf worth more than the mansion.

The proud set of Kuchiki's shoulders rounded in weariness as he changed from his shihakusho into a black yukata, then sat on the bed for a moment, resting his face in his hands.

After a moment passed in silence, he reached into the drawer of the bedside table and pulled out a framed photo. Setting it upon the table, he gazed into bluish-violet eyes as he slowly reached up and unclipped the kenseikan from his hair.

Hisana had always loved watching him do that; loved watching him turn into the man that no one else got to see.

Not the noble. Not the taicho. But the man. Byakuya. The man she'd fallen in love with.

Staring at her picture, Byakuya wondered if the family had purposely chosen the anniversary of her death to order him to remarry. Knowing them, he wouldn't be surprised. They had always hated her.

And having known Hisana as well as he knew his family, he didn't stop the single tear that slid down his cheek as he gazed at their wedding portrait. He knew she would understand and appreciate that the mighty Kuchiki-sama, at least for an instant, was her Byakuya again.

"I miss you still." Byakuya whispered into the silent room, still staring at the picture. Then he leaned over and blew out the lamp on the table before settling himself into their…his bed.

To bed. To sleep. To sleep, and dream of the love he had lost.

_OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO_

"Why are you here this time?" She gasped as familiar, skilled hands trailed over her body, leaving an equally familiar tingling sensation wherever they passed.

Despite what most people thought about her because of her seemingly wild ways, she'd only ever slept with one man. And they weren't even regular lovers. Although in the beginning they might have become a couple, something had changed while they were in the Shinigami academy that drove them a little apart. After that, they generally only came together when one of them was in a mood where they wanted sex.

Not to say that it was cheap in any way. They were friends, best friends. Had been longer than she could really remember. And she loved him.

_Had _loved him - beyond reason and question and doubt.

Almost.

She'd known, somehow, even then, that he didn't quite feel the same way. So she had hardened her heart a little bit, and let their time together simply be what it was.

As warm hands cupped her breasts, palms callused from decades of sword work creating a delightful contrast of sensations with gentle fingers, and lips nibbled tenderly and teasingly on her own, she allowed herself to drift on sensations.

Although she wondered both what had brought him to her this time, and why they didn't do this more often, she didn't really have the courage to ask. Instead, she simply repeated the more generic, "Why?"

"When 'ave we e're need'd a reason, Ran-chan?" His voice was soft, the teasing tone that was normal for him missing for once. The only other time she'd ever heard him speak like this was the first time they'd had sex. Although he still affected the accent he liked to use, the one most people thought was real, the teasing tone was completely absent.

"Gin…" Rangiku sighed as his lips claimed hers, and after that neither of them had a reason to speak for a while.

"_Gin….Gin…"_

Panting, looking around wildly, Rangiku woke alone in her bed, her body on fire and tears streaming down her cheeks as the memory continued to assault her.

The memory of her last time with Ichimaru Gin… It had been almost a week later when she'd finally realized the answer to her question.

Why had he come to her?

He had been saying goodbye in the only way he could.

She wasn't sure if she was glad he had cared or if she wished he hadn't.

Glancing at the clock and seeing that it was almost five in the morning, Rangiku sighed and rose from bed. She decided it might be a nice day to go for a walk before meeting Renji for training.

Anything that would keep her mind from Gin.

She'd planned on using Kuchiki Byakuya to remove the snake from her mind, but as the taicho was proving to be difficult to converse with, let alone flirt with, Rangiku decided she should take her distractions wherever she could find them.

And a long walk in the sunlight was better than moping in her bed.

TBC…

* * *

AN3: PLEASE READ BEFORE COMPLAINING ABOUT RAN/GIN! I couldn't say this before the chapter cause it's kinda a spoiler, but I knew this would cause debate. In my world, Rangiku and Gin were lovers. Never really a couple, more a friends-with-benefits kind of thing. Neither the manga nor anime ever says they were, but it never really says they weren't either. It kinda leaves the reader to decide. So I've chosen to say they were, because as any of my long-time readers will know I enjoy writing angst and pulling as much pain out of the characters as I can before giving them their happy ending. And RanGin having been lovers lets me add so much more depth and angst to her character. Plus, if he'd been less of a dick, I would totally have loved them as a couple. I kinda still do. (cringes and waits for the flames)

* * *

Glossary:

Yume to Omoide: "Dreams and Memories," as I state in the title of the chapter in the drop-down menu for the story. Although another way of translating it is "Dreams with Memories," or "With Dreams, Memories (exist)," which is also rather appropriate.

Kuchiki-sama: -sama is a suffix used with nobility or just people of a much, much higher rank than you are, the closest English equivalent is probably "Milord or Milady." When Byakuya is acting as the Kuchiki Prince, he will be referred to this way. When he is acting as a Shinigami, he will be Kuchiki-taicho. (see below) And when he is acting as himself, he will be Byakuya. This will make much more sense as the story progresses, and fits into the whole 'masks' idea perfectly.

Taicho: Unit Commander, the dub uses "Captain."

Fukutaicho: Vice-Unit Commander, dubbed as either "Vice-Captain" or "Lieutenant."

Rokubantai: 6th Division or 6th Squad, the one Byakuya is in charge of.

Haori: Normally used for the 'over-coat'-ish garment males wear on more formal occasions, this is the term for the white taicho coat with the division's number on it.

Kenseikan: The white hairpiece Byakuya wears, it's a symbol of nobility.


	3. Chrysanthemums

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I'm just playing with them for awhile. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: The second main fic in the "After The Winter War" series. This one is centered on Rangiku and Byakuya, but like the others will also feature many other characters and will weave together with other stories. Thanks to all those who reviewed the last chapter. Unfortunately I didn't have time to send you all notes like I normally do, but I'm so glad you enjoyed it and that you took the time to let me know. I think Rangiku's a little OOC in the first part, maybe, but I'm sticking with the idea of masks and that people can be different from what they show to others. Here goes nothing…

* * *

Behind This Mask

By Lady Callista

Chapter 3: Chrysanthemums

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_Vanity is the polite mask of pride._

_-Friedrich Nietzsche_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

Rangiku breathed in the crisp morning air as she left the Juubantai barracks. It was rare for her to be awake at this time of the morning, and although she was annoyed at the reason she was awake she could still admit it was a beautiful morning.

Dreaming of Gin.

It had been weeks since she had done that, or at least since she had awakened and remembered doing so. She normally had enough sake in her by the time she went to sleep that she slept deeply and did not remember her dreams. It was one of her favorite things about sake.

Rangiku's early morning walk took her by a flower vender, and with a small smile she went in and bought a dozen chrysanthemums, then took a detour to one of the cemeteries. She hadn't lost many friends over the years, and there were even less she bothered to visit, but a few people had made enough of an impact on her life that she continued to talk to them, not caring that they couldn't answer her anymore. And she didn't want to tell anyone who could answer her about Gin anyway.

Sliding the flowers into one of the vases on the shrine, she was surprised to find arrangements in both other vases as well. Then she glanced at the stone and noted the dates on it. So many years had passed that she'd completely forgotten that yesterday had been the anniversary of her death. She lit the incense she'd also picked up from the flower vender, then knelt down with a small smile on her face. Of all the days she could have picked to come here…

"I remember the first time I met you." Rangiku reminisced as the smell of jasmine filled the air. "Half a dozen of us girls got an invitation for tea at the Kuchiki mansion. You'd just married Kuchiki-taicho, and must have been lonely. Coming from Rukongai myself, I understood that. But at least I had the other Shinigami, my classmates, my division. You had no one. I think it was more curiosity than anything else that got us all to go. Curiosity about you. About the peasant who had married the prince." She laughed out loud at the memory. "You would have laughed if you'd seen us approaching the mansion. Six seated Shinigami, grouped like teenagers going to a party because none of us wanted to be the first to arrive…none of us wanted to be alone with the new lady."

Rangiku fell silent for a moment, memories flooding through her. "But the new lady surprised us all. You were so nice. We'd assumed that to be accepted into a noble family you would be as high-and-mighty as all of them were, but you were so much fun to be with. Well, maybe fun is the wrong word because of how shy and reserved you were, but we could tell you were genuinely interested in us. You really wanted friends, you weren't just playing nice or being fake because it was expected of you."

"You were the first person to ever give me flowers." Rangiku said quietly after a moment of silence. "I don't know how you found out it was my birthday…"

Rangiku trailed off as that memory brought up another one. Her first birthday. Gin. Shaking her head to clear the unwanted thoughts, she stood up, knowing she had to leave anyway or she'd be late for her training session with Renji. "I only got to spend time with you a few times after that, but I always admired you. Somehow you'd managed to stay yourself, to not change and act all uptight like all the other nobles did. I didn't know you before you married Kuchiki….but I imagine you were always the same. You made me see that I could succeed at being a Shinigami without losing myself." She chuckled now. "Although some people, my taicho especially, probably wish that I had changed some. Well, maybe a lot. I'm about as different from you as possible. In looks, personality, attitude, everything. Am I crazy for thinking I can make Kuchiki-taicho like me?"

With a sigh and a shake of her head, Rangiku turned from the grave and headed towards the Rokubantai practice field. "If I ever even get a chance to talk to him." She mumbled as she left.

That chance came much sooner than she had anticipated.

As Rangiku entered the field she and Renji used to train, she found the fukutaicho and his taicho just sheathing their zanpakuto.

"An intriguing sparing match." Kuchiki-taicho was saying emotionlessly. "You improved so much over the past year I wondered how you would do against me."

Renji nodded his head. "It was enjoyable."

Renji was still breathing heavily, but even Kuchiki appeared tired, and Rangiku couldn't tell from either of their faces which of them had won the match. So, Rangiku being Rangiku, she called out, "So, who won?"

They both turned to look at her, Kuchiki's face remaining blank and Renji's breaking into a grin. "Who do you think?"

Rangiku returned his grin, although she had enough manners to turn to Kuchiki and call out in a teasing tone, "Good morning, Kuchiki-taicho. Should I assume you put him in his place?" Well, maybe it wasn't manners so much as planning. After all, she _had_ been looking for a way to talk to him.

Rangiku could swear that for the briefest of instants she saw a slight smirk come to his lips. If she hadn't been studying them she never would have noticed.

With the stoniest of expressions, Kuchiki-taicho replied, "You may assume that, Matsumoto-fukutaicho. As I assume you are here for your own sparring match."

"I am indeed." She grinned as she sauntered closer. "Although if you beat him maybe I should be practicing with you."

"I'm afraid I haven't the time." He said dryly.

"I'm surprised you do, Rangiku." Renji joined the conversation, reaching over to pull something from the sleeve of her shihakusho. He looked down at the flower petals with a smirk. "Who was the lucky guy?"

Rangiku blushed at the sight of the pretty chrysanthemum petals in his calloused palm. "I must have brushed against one on my way here." For some reason, she didn't want Kuchiki to know she'd been visiting his first wife.

Renji's eyebrows rose, an intrigued look coming into his eyes. "There are no flowers between your division and here. I should know, I've gone to your practice field enough when this one was in use. Besides, chrysanthemums don't grow wild in…"

"What is this, a meeting of the Garden Club?" Rangiku queried, knowing he was teasing her because he'd seen her blush. She never blushed.

"Just want to know who your latest conquest was." Renji retorted.

"I don't have one, and if I did why would you care?" Normally she wouldn't have cared what Renji said, but with Kuchiki listening… "We both know you like…"

"That is no concern of yours." Renji cut her off quickly, glancing at Kuchiki-taicho nervously.

"So, are you too worn out now to give me a good match?" Rangiku smirked at Renji, making sure the change of subject would stick, realizing even as she did so that she was losing her chance to talk to Kuchiki more.

"I'm never too worn out to kick your ass." Renji smirked back, his hand going to the hilt of his zanpakuto.

"Don't forget to be to the office by one." Kuchiki-taicho said as he walked away without further comment. He'd watched their entire exchange impassively.

Renji grinned at Rangiku as he faced off with her. "Howl, Zabimaru."

Rangiku drew her zanpakuto as well, sparing one last glance over Renji's shoulder. She could swear Kuchiki's eyes flicked appreciatively to her for an instant, then he turned the corner and was gone.

"Growl, Haineko."

_OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO_

"No, _change_ your power." Abarai shouted as Zabimaru hurtled through Haineko's dust, Matsumoto having taken a shunpo away at the last second.

"I did." She hissed as Haineko formed into a twister and flew towards him.

"No, you didn't." Abarai replied as he dodged out of the way, then lowered Zabimaru and returned him to his katana state.

Matsumoto looked at him in confusion as she returned Haineko to her standard katana shape as well and sheathed her. "Yes, I did."

Abarai shook his head. "It's like the difference between an unreleased zanpakuto and one in shikai. You can increase your power and abilities with an sealed zanpakuto, but increasing your power with it, no matter how much you increase it, will never let you achieve shikai. You have to change how you think about it, change how you use it. All you've been doing for the past decades is increasing your abilities with shikai. And while that's great, you can't just expand your shikai to achieve bankai. It's completely different. You have to listen to Haineko, and let her tell you how to move beyond what you know."

Watching the fight from behind the concealment of his office window's curtains, Byakuya chuckled slightly at Abarai's explanation. In the strictest sense it was correct, but both he and his fukutaicho knew it wasn't that simple. The difference between shikai and bankai wasn't really explainable to those who hadn't reached bankai. Even to those who had achieved it and trained with it for decades it was hard to define, or to teach.

It was why he'd been surprised when he heard that Abarai had agreed to train with Matsumoto and help her achieve bankai. He couldn't believe she'd asked, nor that he had agreed.

Bankai was between a Shinigami and their zanpakuto. Once it was achieved, training against another Shinigami who had bankai helped one learn to refine it and figure out its various abilities, but he'd never heard of anyone helping another to achieve it.

Matsumoto's shunpo and shikai had both improved slightly over the past week and a half she'd been training with Abarai, but she was no closer to achieving bankai that she'd been when she started.

Abarai's bankai though, that was something to behold. He studied it as he needed to do, cataloging in his mind how developed the various moves were, how precise and rapidly the hits connected. He did not watch a pink scarf sinuously sliding around a slashing arm. He watched Abarai's eyes as they scanned his opponent, noting that there was still a slight widening of the pupils in the instant before he struck. They'd been trying to train that out of him for over ten years. He did not watch her face flush with excitement as she parried one of Abarai's blows, using his momentum against him to land a hit on his back. He timed how long it took to respond to the hit. How his eye twitched as he figured out how to counter.

He still couldn't understand how she didn't fall out of her top whenever she was fighting.

Byakuya blinked slowly as the thought seemed to pop into his head from out of nowhere, and he was just about to dissect it when there was a knock on his door.

"Enter." He said as he turned from the window to face the door, his face blank.

"You asked to see me, Kuchiki-taicho?" Rukia bowed as she closed the door behind her.

Kuchiki nodded and turned back to look out the window. Without prompting, Rukia walked up and stood beside him.

"What is your opinion of Abarai?"

Rukia coughed, and blushed for no reason that he could understand. "What…what do you mean?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You once knew him better than anyone, and you are friends yet. Do you think he would be a good taicho?"

Rukia sputtered for a second longer, then instantaneously sobered up as his other eyebrow went up as well. "That would depend on his fukutaicho. Renji isn't easy to work with, and I know how much he hates paperwork."

"I know that as well." Kuchiki sighed, his eyes flashing for an instant to the mound of paperwork on Abarai's desk.

"But with the right fukutaicho, he would be amazing." Rukia added quickly. "He's a good strategist, and a natural leader. He's loyal, and he'll do anything for his friends or for those he is supposed to protect."

"He gets along well with Kira-fukutaicho, does he not?" Kuchiki still stared out the window, his eyes tracking the fight.

"Why yes, we've all been friends since…" Rukia trailed off, her eyes widening. "Nii-sama, are you saying that…"

"I am saying nothing." Kuchiki turned to face her. "We never had this conversation."

Rukia's eyes got even bigger. "I understand. So has the family bothered you anymore about the whole marriage thing?"

Kuchiki blinked slowly at her abrupt change of topics, then realized that he hadn't spoken to her in over a week. It made sense that she would want to be kept up with the family's scheming. "Nothing."

"Oh." Rukia replied in puzzlement. "I just assumed they put a flower symbolizing grief on her grave for a reason."

"They did what?" Kuchiki's face tinted with anger.

"I know I was there yesterday with you, but I stopped by to see her again today. I wanted to say something private. And there was a bouquet of chrysanthemums in the third vase." Rukia explained.

Kuchiki immediately flashed back to the chrysanthemum petals on Matsumoto's sleeve, but said nothing of them to Rukia. "That does not seem like something they would do."

"Then who?"

Kuchiki shrugged slightly. "She did have a few friends. She had tea several times with some of the other Shinigami women, and they seemed to get along well."

Rukia couldn't think of a reply. She was so amazed that he was volunteering information about her sister that she was almost afraid to speak and break the spell.

But it broke anyway. Rukia knew, when the slightly wistful look in his eyes vanished and he turned away from the window, that she would get to hear no more.

"Thank you for stopping by." Kuchiki said as he sat at his desk.

"Thank you for seeing me, Kuchiki-taicho." Rukia could do nothing but bow her way out.

After his sister had closed the door behind her, Kuchiki simply sat doing nothing. He'd slept horribly the night before, and that combined with the exertion of his early morning sparing match had left him with a pounding headache. The puzzle of why Matsumoto had left flowers on Hisana's grave wasn't really that important. He'd told the truth that Hisana had been friendly with a few of the other Shinigami, maybe Matsumoto had been one of them. Not that it mattered to him in the slightest what the woman did.

He rose after a moment, and gave orders to the Seat at the desk outside his office that he was not to be disturbed. Then he lay lightly on the couch in his office and prepared himself for a twenty minute nap. Then he would be ready to face the rest of the day.

Sleep found his highly trained body and mind easily, and the dream that had haunted him the night before returned.

Hisana stood in the ballroom of the Kuchiki mansion the day after their wedding. The servants had already removed all traces of the ceremony and reception that had occurred the night before, yet she stood in the middle of the room, eyes flicking around the room as if she could still see where each ribbon had hung.

He crossed to her slowly, eyes taking in her beauty.

But this time the dream changed.

Deep bluish/violet eyes changed to a lighter, sea-foamish blue. Midnight black hair grew longer and lighter until it was the color of the morning sunlight. The face matured, the body grew taller and more voluptuous.

By the time he held her in his arms and drew her in for a kiss, it was no longer Hisana.

In the depth of his dreams, it was Matsumoto he pulled into his arms. Matsumoto who sighed as she leaned in and fitted her body against his. Freed from being the noble, or the taicho, or anything else, safe within dreams where logic and sensibility had no place, it was Rangiku he tasted.

_TBC…_


	4. Prisoner

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I'm just playing with them for awhile. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: The second main fic in the "After The Winter War" series. This one is centered on Rangiku and Byakuya, but like the others will also feature many other characters and will weave together with other stories. Oh, and I stopped watching Bleach soon after the fillers eps started up again, so I have not watched the thing with all the zanpakutos going crazy. I have no idea if Rangiku's is shown or not, and am glad I don't know cause I wanted to create her zanpakuto the way I wanted it without being influenced by anything else.

* * *

Behind This Mask

By Lady Callista

Chapter 4: Prisoner

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_They always say tomorrow is another day, but when will I forget the memories of yesterday?" -???_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

Byakuya awoke the next morning after once again having slept poorly. It was barely sunrise, yet just like when he'd tried to nap the previous day his dreams had been strange and disturbing. Every dream had been a happy memory, one memory or another of him and Hisana. Although that might be redundant, because for the most part the only truly happy memories he had of his long life were ones with her.

Yet he couldn't take the comfort he normally did from the dreams, for Hisana had not stayed herself in any of them. In each and every one, by the time he leaned in to kiss her, she had changed into Matsumoto Rangiku.

It was growing ridiculous.

Although he admitted in the privacy of his own thoughts that he found her attractive physically, he would have had to be blind or stupid to not think that. As he was neither, he found her attractive.

Yet he was not deaf either, and every time she opened her mouth her unrefined and often rude words made her less attractive to him. He knew she associated herself with some of the most rude and uncouth Shinigami as well, and that she and her friends drank to excess with disturbing frequency.

And although she was undoubtedly a talented Shinigami, as he could tell from her training with Abarai, he also knew she lacked discipline and drive. Every day he expected her to skip a training session with one excuse or another. Every day he expected her to announce that she had simply given up.

He'd always made certain to keep himself informed about the training and abilities of other Shinigami, especially the taicho and fukutaicho, and he knew she'd tried to achieve bankai several times in the past, but had always given up. He expected this time to be no different.

Byakuya allowed himself a slight smile as he got out of bed and began his morning kata, beginning with a relaxation to calm the last vestiges of his body's reaction to his dreams.

He would soon have a chance to aid Matsumoto in her decision to give up yet again, and hopefully removing her from his daily sight would remove her from his dreams as well. After all, the woman was completely unsuitable for him.

Completely unsuitable.

_OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO_

Rangiku stalked unto the Rokubantai's practice field nearly twenty minutes before her and Renji normally met. She'd awakened before dawn yet again, haunted by dreams of Ichimaru Gin. She'd had a leisurely shower and breakfast as she tried to get her emotions back under control, yet nothing had worked. As a result, she was tired and cranky and in the mood to take her frustrations out on someone. She couldn't wait till Renji showed up.

Rangiku stalked unto the field, then stopped short and stared. Renji was not there, but as she was early that didn't surprise her. What did surprise her was that Kuchiki Byakuya stood in the middle of the field, his bankai released and his eyes directly on her.

"You are early, Matsumoto-fukutaicho." He stated in way of greeting.

"Kuchiki-taicho." She stuttered for a moment in surprise, then recovered. "I didn't mean to interrupt your practice. I'll just wait outside the field until Ren…Abarai-fukutaicho shows up."

"My fukutaicho will be unable to attend today, he was needed elsewhere." Kuchiki-taicho replied, still facing her from between the two lines of swords created by Senbonzakura Kageyoshi.

"I see." Rangiku replied as she stood facing him, unable to keep her hand from going to Haineko's hilt as she faced a taicho with his bankai released. "I didn't know, or I would have slept in."

"I asked him not to cancel the practice." Kuchiki-taicho replied as he nodded towards her zanpakuto. "Draw. You did say you wished to spar with me."

Rangiku's eyes grew huge, and for a moment she could do nothing but stare at him. She'd never known him to spar with anyone but his fukutaicho, or occasionally with the higher seats in his division. And it was never because they asked him, it was because he wanted to analyze their abilities.

Her moment of speechlessness lasted for only a moment though, and then her normal personality took over. "I thought you didn't have the time, Kuchiki-taicho." She smirked as she drew Haineko, not yet releasing her.

He raised an eyebrow. "Neither will Abarai-fukutaicho anymore. I merely want to take this opportunity to show you that the practicing you are doing is pointless. You are no closer to bankai than you were a decade ago, and will get no closer if you spar with Abarai every day for the next decade. Just give up, as you always have."

"Growl, Haineko." Rangiku hissed as she stared into his eyes. "I will not give up. I never had a reason to grow stronger before, but now that I do nothing will stop me. I don't care how many decades it takes, this time I will succeed."

For an instant, Rangiku thought she saw the tiniest bit of respect come into his eyes, but it was gone before she could be certain.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

"Haineko!" Rangiku yelled as she took a shunpo away from where she'd been, using her mind to pull Haineko's ash into a shield around her. Despite her speed, she felt several of his thousand blades hit the shield, and one even managed to cut through it and nick her arm. She just wasn't fast enough to evade him.

Switching immediately to the offensive, knowing it was the only chance she had, she sent Haineko directly at him. And watched in shock as the thousand blades, despite having been further away from him than her ash was, swirled around him in a shield that deflected her attack.

"You cannot stand up to my bankai. Just admit defeat. Admit that you are not good enough." Even as he spoke, his blades swirled towards her again, a graceful and surprisingly beautiful portrait of death.

She'd always thought his bankai was the most beautiful in Seireitei, but knew better than to call anything of a man's beautiful. Also, she'd never been on the receiving end of it. It was hard to find anything beautiful when it was trying to kill her.

Rangiku had never been one to admit defeat though. Especially as she knew he wouldn't actually kill her. She shunpoed away again, and again was not fast enough. Haineko's shield took hits again, and this time it was not one but three blades that cut though enough to draw blood. With a muttered curse, she tried to pull Haineko to her enough to reform her into a more effective shield, but she was not fast enough.

Before the shield could reform, more of his blades slid in against her skin. But these did not cut her. With his exquisite control, he stopped dozens of them just short of her skin. She could feel the sharpness of several of them against her neck, and froze.

"Abarai-fukutaicho was being nice, holding himself back so that he only seemed a step ahead of you. He was trying to push you into doing better." Kuchiki-taicho said as he calmly walked towards her, the rest of his blades swirling around him. "But as you can see, you are more than a step behind. Were you fighting me for real, you would be dead. Instead, you are my prisoner, and will remain so as long as I wish it."

"_I wish I could have been your prisoner awhile longer. I'm sorry, Rangiku. Goodbye."_

Time seemed to freeze for Rangiku as Gin's words from immediately after she'd learned of his betrayal echoed through her head. If only she could have kept him prisoner. If only she'd been stronger.

From the moment she'd begun training with Renji, and on occasion with Hitsugaya, she'd told herself it was because of the three Arrancar that had beaten her so badly.

Now, as she stood in the middle of the jungle where she'd first met Haineko over a hundred years ago, her eyes closed in shame. She couldn't hide her real reason, either from herself or from Haineko.

_You wanted to keep him. You want to be strong enough that you never lose another person you love. _

Rangiku's eyes slid open and she faced the grey cat that stood nearly as tall as she was. "Maybe if I hadn't been so lazy, if I'd put as much work into training as I did into partying, maybe I could have stopped him."

_There were many people with bankai on that hill that day. If none of them could stop him, how could you have? Even if you had bankai? You can't ask me to help you for selfish reasons. I find no reason to give you my strength because you're crying over spilled milk. _

"It's not that, at least not entirely." Rangiku insisted. "I know I couldn't have stopped him. I know it, deep down. But what if I'm ever in a situation that's just a little bit different? What if I'm in a situation where I lose because I wasn't quite strong enough? Because I didn't train quite hard enough? I'm not saying I want to completely change. I don't want to stop drinking, or partying. I don't want to become like Hitsugaya, or Kuchiki, where I'm nothing but my job. I don't even care if people keep thinking of me the way they do. But I want to know they're wrong. I don't care if everyone continues to think that I'm lazy, and a party girl. But I want to know I'm more than that."

_I've always known you were more than that. That is your mask, and it is as complete as the masks of others. The masks you claim annoy you. You want to always be smiling and happy, because that is better than anyone seeing your pain. You've guarded your heart for so long, because you always sensed that one day he would break it if he could. You've used humor and boisterousness to hide the aloofness and pride of a cat. And that partitioning of your mind allowed you to keep him from breaking you. You're still standing. But you've never had to stand without him, and aren't sure how to. You feel alone. But you're not. Even if no one else is there for you, I always will be._

Tears streamed down Rangiku's face as the great cat leaned in and licked her face. She understood now what Renji had meant when he'd told her she had to listen to Haineko. To be honest, she'd understood it the moment he said it, but had been unwilling to listen. Throughout her life Haineko had displayed time and again a brutal honesty that Rangiku hadn't been willing to face over the Gin issue.

"Help me now, please." Rangiku whispered through her tears. "Show me that you're there for me. Lend me your strength. Manifest!"

_You will have to prove worthy of me soon. For now I will show you that I believe in you._

Rangiku reached out a hand to touch the great cat, and suddenly found herself back on the Rokubantai practice field. Although the blades of Senbonzakura were still at her throat, they suddenly seemed unimportant. As did the tears still streaming down her face.

"HAINEKO!"

The ash whirled up around her body like a tornado, sweeping away all of the blades. For the first time since she'd learned shikai, Rangiku found she was not at all in control of the ash. It swirled up around her and outwards, making a beeline for Kuchiki-taicho.

She had a moment to marvel at the startled look on his face before Haineko stopped moving, the ash condensing into the form of the giant cat she had never seen outside of her own mind. It roared at Kuchiki-taicho, whose thousand blades immediately placed themselves between the cat and him. Then the cat turned to face her, lowered it's head in an almost-bow, then turned back into ash and flew at her, reshaping itself into a normal katana blade.

Tears still streaming down her face, Rangiku felt a wave of exhaustion overtake her and she fell to her knees, Haineko's hilt now clutched in both hands. "Haineko." She managed to whisper as her vision started to go gray at the edges.

The last thing she saw before the gray took over was Kuchiki-taicho looking down at her, a look in his eyes she couldn't place. If it had been anyone else, she would have said they were proud of her.

TBC…


	5. A Moment

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I'm just playing with them for awhile. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: The second main fic in the "After The Winter War" series. This one is centered on Rangiku and Byakuya, but like the others will also feature many other characters and will weave together with other stories. LEMON WARNING!

* * *

Behind This Mask

By Lady Callista

Chapter 5: A Moment

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_We all have a social mask, right? We put it on, we go out, put our best foot forward, our best image. _

_But behind that social mask is a personal truth, what we really, really believe about who we are and what we're capable of._

_-Phil McGraw _

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

Kuchiki Byakuya looked down at Matsumoto Rangiku as she lay collapsed at his feet. It wasn't uncommon to pass out the first time or two your zanpakuto physically manifested, because all the reiatsu came from you, and it was quite a jolt if you weren't used to it. And he'd noted when she first arrived that she looked stressed and tired, which would make the manifestation even more difficult. He was amazed that she had managed it, and wondered what he had said or done that triggered it.

He thought about summoning someone to look after her till she awoke, or about simply leaving her there. From experience, he knew she should awaken within ten or so minutes. Yet seeing the tears staining her face brought out protective instincts he hardly ever felt, and with a sigh he returned his zanpakuto to its blade form and sheathed it, then reached down and slid her own zanpakuto into its sheath on her back before picking her up and carrying her into his office. It was so early that no one else was there, so he didn't have to give explanations as he laid her on the couch in his office, then returned to the door and closed it softly before retreating to sit behind his desk.

He rose an instant later, going to the table in the back of the room and heating up a pot of water to make tea. He paced for the few minutes it took the water to boil, then abruptly stopped and cursed himself silently as he realized he was pacing. He opened the small tea cabinet, and cursed again to find the tin with the green tea he always drank empty. With a sigh he pulled out the tea Renji had left in there the other week, prepared it, and then carried the pot over to his desk and sat.

He glanced down at his papers for an instant, his eyes resting for a moment on a copy of his recommendation to make Abarai Renji the Sanbantai's taicho. He was undergoing testing by several of the other taicho even now.

Absently drinking his tea, which although it tasted different from his normal kind wasn't really that bad, Byakuya tried to make his mind focus on his paperwork.

Then, unable to prevent it, Byakuya glanced over at the beauty sleeping on his couch. He remembered what she had felt like as he carried her in his arms, and tried to forget how long it had been since he'd held a woman. Tried to forget that just hours before he'd been dreaming of holding and kissing this very woman. He also tried to forget Rukia's comment the week before about finding someone completely unsuitable. Because he was hard pressed to think of someone the family would hate more than Matsumoto.

But he'd been telling Rukia the truth that he didn't see the point in dating someone he couldn't fall in love with. It seemed childish to do something just to spite the Kuchiki family.

Yet he couldn't get the feel of her in his arms out of his head. It wasn't even the feel of her specifically, but simply the feeling of a woman in his arms. He remembered the first time he'd held Hisana, the first time he'd kissed her, the first time they'd made love…and felt himself harden at just the thought. It had been so long…

"Please….please…" Matsumoto mumbled, her body shifting on the couch and her breathing growing heavier, from all indications lost in as erotic a dream as the ones he'd been having.

He'd actually stood and walked around his desk towards her before he realized what he was doing. And just when he thought he could take it no longer she suddenly sat up with a gasp, her arms crossing over her chest as she gripped her own shoulders, essentially hugging herself and for some reason making him want to do the same. Tears streamed down her cheeks again.

Byakuya had never known what to do with crying women. "Matsumoto-fukutaicho." He said quietly after a moment had passed and she had done nothing but hold herself and cry.

She gasped, her head snapping up to look at him, then glanced wildly around for an instant before seeming to realize where she was. She wiped at her eyes and cheeks furiously, turning bright red as she avoided looking at him.

"Are you alright, Matsumoto?" He asked, unable to stop himself from taking a step closer to her. When she didn't answer, he continued in a voice that showed no emotion, "You passed out after making Haineko manifest, and I brought you in here until you awoke. It seems I was wrong on you not being any closer to bankai than you had been. Congratulations."

"She…she made me face things I didn't want to face." Matsumoto gasped, still refusing to look at him. "I didn't know it was supposed to be that painful. She made me remember _Him_. Remember all our happy times together, how he loved touch…"

She cut of with a moan, her hands flying up to cover her mouth as she realized both what she'd said and who she'd said it to.

Her head dropped forward, unable to look at him, and so when his fingers slid into her hair, tucking a huge hanging chunk of it behind her ear, she nearly fainted from shock.

His hand slid down the side of her jaw, brushing light knuckles down her cheek before taking half a step away, his eyes shining with what she could swear was humor. There was no sign of it on his face, but this close, she could see the laughter in his eyes. "You seem to like being touched." His voice was almost emotionless still, but was softer and more intimate than she'd ever heard it.

Rangiku wondered if she was losing her mind. Kuchiki was flirting with her. There was no other explanation for his last action and words. Unless he was the one losing his mind.

"Doesn't everyone?" Rangiku tried to keep her voice casual, tried to stop the hitch of her breath, but was certain he could tell from her eyes if nothing else that she was anything but unaffected.

She had to still be dreaming. That was the only explanation, at least other than one of them losing their minds, and she liked to think that hadn't happened. So she did what she'd never have dared to do in real life. With a small smile, Rangiku reached out and trailed her fingers down the side of his face, letting the pad of her thumb rest briefly on his lips before pulling her hand away.

Byakuya felt himself harden even further as she reached out and touched him. He felt like he was going mad. He hadn't even consciously reached out to clear her hair out of her face; he'd been touching her before he even realized his hand had moved. And then once the hair was gone, her cheek had looked so soft, and it have given him the opportunity to brush one of the tears from her face.

Without thinking about why he wanted to, Byakuya reached out and caught her hand as she withdrew it.

She startled as he caught her hand, and her eyes grew wider as she jerked her hand out of his and cradled it against her chest. "I'm not dreaming. I'm going mad."

"No, you're not dreaming." Byakuya chuckled. "And I think I'm the one going mad." He withdrew shakily, walking back to his desk and taking a deep breath before turning to face her once again.

"Why?" Rangiku whispered, rising on slightly unsteady legs to face him. "You've looked at no one in decades. Why me? And why now?" Something in him was so serious that she couldn't make herself joke or tease him. But she didn't understand where this was coming from.

"Why, after walking by the same spot for decades, will one suddenly notice the beautiful flower along the path and be told by others that it was always there?" Byakuya whispered. "And as for why now…I was just forcibly reminded of what it feels like to hold a woman in my arms." Byakuya didn't know what he was doing. He hadn't wanted to touch her, he just had. He hadn't intended to tell her something that personal, but he had. And he knew that if she allowed it he would be making love to her before he could think about it. But he still had no idea why he was doing it. It was madness!

But from her first tentative touch, the thing he most wanted in the world at that very second was to feel his lips on hers. He was starved for physical contact, and her first touch had almost made him sigh in pleasure. So long since he had been touched. And thanks to the damned dreams he'd been aching for the past day and a half. From what he had noticed of her dreams and how tired she'd been when he first saw her this morning, he hazarded a guess that she had been sleeping as poorly as he had, perhaps for the same reasons.

"Kuchiki…" Rangiku whispered, stepping slightly closer to him.

"A moment we both need." Byakuya whispered, "But that is all it is."

Rangiku's breath caught in her throat as she realized what he'd just said. As she realized what he meant. Her body was still on fire from her dreams, and the mask covering his eyes had vanished again. She could see the desire in them. It didn't seem to be for her specifically, but then he was not the reason for the inferno running through her veins.

_A moment they both needed._ That was all it was, right? She'd wanted to make him fall for her, and in a way she had. She didn't know what had come over him, or why he needed this moment enough to propose what he just had to a woman he'd never shown the slightest interest in before. She also found she didn't care.

Dreams and challenges be damned, Rangiku was about to kiss the one man almost every woman in Seireitei would love to get her hands on.

"That's all it is." Rangiku whispered as she took the last step between them, standing with her body less than an inch away from his. Her chest actually brushed his slightly as she reached up and slid her hand behind his neck, using it to tilt his head downwards until their lips were almost touching. Before closing that last small distance, she said breathily, "Although hopefully it will be a memorable moment."

Byakuya sighed as she fitted her lips to his, and let the kiss remain gentle for only a moment before taking control. Grabbing her uppers arms tightly in his hands, he jerked her body roughly into his as he deepened the kiss, forcing his mouth onto hers until her lips slid open to admit his forceful tongue.

Rangiku gasped under his assault, every nerve in her body on fire. She slid her hands up to rest against his chest, feeling his heart pounding under her hand. One of his hands slid up her arm to cup the nape of her neck in his hand, and when he started gently squeezing and releasing the contrast to the roughness of his kiss made her moan in pleasure even as she wretched herself away for a much needed breath. "Kuchiki…"

"For this moment only, Byakuya." He whispered, his own breath ragged. Then he let his hands slide down her back to grip her waist as he leaned down and kissed along her jawbone to nibble on her ear. "And I can promise it will be memorable."

Rangiku's knees trembled as his breath blew warm in her ear and sent shivers running through her body. She fell into him, surrendering her weight to his strong arms even as he shifted and she suddenly found herself trapped on the floor beneath him. His hips pressed hers into the ground even as one hand kept the majority of his weight off of her. The other hand slid to the belt of her shihakusho and untied it deftly, parting the gi until her ample breasts spilled out of it.

Or they would have, were they not contained in what he believed those on Earth called a bra. He had wondered the other day why she didn't fall out of her uniform, but had never considered that a non-traditional clothing item was the reason.

Although he was left with the problem of where the knot was on the item. She seemed to realize his problem, for her hands left his chest and turned to rest on her own, her fingers on her collarbone. She watched his eyes track her hands as she slowly slid them down her upper chest to the clasp between her breasts, and saw them brighten the instant she undid the clasp and allowed her breasts to fall into his waiting hands. He kissed her again, roughly, then slid his mouth down her body to close his mouth over one nipple, sucking gently as he shifted himself on top of her to aid her questing hands in untying his belt and baring his chest to her flashing, burning hot hands.

Rangiku pushed against him gently, and he sat back on his knees, his hands coming to her shoulders to draw her into a sitting position as well. He pushed her gi top completely off of her, followed by the bra, then allowed his arms to go lax under her forceful hands as she stripped him of his gi as well, then ran the hands up into his hair as this time her mouth attacked his.

His arms shot around her back, crushing her heaving chest against his, and he decided if this was what if felt like to go mad he couldn't say he minded a bit.

Their hands reached for the other's hakama at the same time, hands frantically pushing at pants in the desire to find more flesh. In the desire for more touch.

They kissed for barely another moment, and when he drew their bare bodies fully together, resting himself between her legs, she could do nothing but sigh and let her legs slid open in invitation. He pulled back just enough to look into her eyes as he drove himself into her.

She was wet enough that she felt no pain, but she was also so tight that her entire body jerked slightly at his forceful invasion. He sighed once, a shudder running through his entire body as he paused for a moment fully sheathed in her.

Then he began pounding into her, his eyes wild and locked on hers as his arms kept him from crushing her. It was all Rangiku could do to grasp his arms and go along for the ride. She felt herself rising higher and higher, her hips rising and falling in rhythm with his, and she cried out his name as the first orgasm ripped through her unexpectedly. He only quickened his pace, then in a flash rolled over to put her above him, then sat up until she was kneeling over him and riding him.

Rangiku's hips rose and fell frantically, her hands on his shoulders clenching as his lips found her chest again.

And just as she felt every muscle in his body tense and his hands clamp down on her hips, her world exploded again, and this time she only had the energy to sigh his name like a prayer.

His upper body flopped back, his breathing heavy as he rested on the ground, and without thought Rangiku followed him down, resting her head on his chest as his arms came around her and held her close.

"That was indeed memorable." She whispered when she could find the breath.

He chuckled under her. "I feel like I should apologize for my lack of finesse, but it does not seem like you minded."

"That was exactly what I needed." She replied, lifting her hips and hearing his sigh echo hers as he slid out of her. She flopped onto her back beside him, still breathing heavily.

He glanced over at her, skin shiningly slightly from their exertions, hair messed crazily from where his hands had gripped it, chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath, and tried to remember when his fifth seat was coming into the office today.

Realizing that he had nearly twenty minutes, he reached for her, and she smiled at the look in his eyes before they attacked each other again.

TBC…


	6. A Day

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I'm just playing with them for awhile. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: My apologies for this coming out so much slower than "No Warm Memories" to those of you who are reading all my stories, but I'm finding this story much more difficult to write. Trying to keep the story how I want it and still keeping them in character, even with the addition of personal masks, has been interesting. I constantly get to points and then find myself trying to figure out how to move beyond them. Thanks so much to those who are giving constructive feedback, it has been a tremendous help. Oh, and to those who pointed out that Byakuya randomly having sex because he was "in the mood" was OOC, well, this chapter explains it a little more, as will the one-shot "There's Nobody Wiser," which will be out eventually. At least this part is a good length for me. Enjoy.

* * *

Behind This Mask

By Lady Callista

Chapter 6: A Day

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_There are worse things than a broken heart...like the love you can't explore."_

_--Joey Potter on "Dawson's Creek"_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"I know his message said this afternoon, but I have plans then and was hoping that he'd be free if I came by early." Rukia said as she and her brother's 5th seat approached the Rokubantai office.

"I believe he's free for the next hour or so, Kuchiki-sama, but I'll have to check the log to be sure." Tanaka replied.

They'd run into each other on the way to the office, though Tanaka had been surprised that she knew who he was. And was even more surprised when she started casually chatting with him after he answered her question. She was so much nicer than her brother.

Tanaka was just reaching for the door to the office when it was pushed open and the most beautiful woman in Seireitei stepped out.

"Ma…Matsumoto-fukutaicho." He stuttered, his face turning red.

Rangiku sent him a smile designed to turn him even redder. "Good morning to you, and to you as well, Rukia-san."

"Rangiku-san." Rukia nodded, looking at the woman curiously. Her normally flowing hair was in disarray, and her belt was tied in a slightly rough knot instead of her normal bow. "Rough session?"

Rangiku's eyes grew huge, and she blushed for the first time Rukia thought she had ever seen. "What?" She managed to choke out.

Rukia cocked her head curiously as Tanaka nodded to both women and excused himself to go into the office. "Aren't you training with Renji?"

"Oh, ah…yeah." Rangiku blew out a deep breath. "He was busy this morning though, so…uh…I trained with By…with Kuchiki-taicho."

"Nii-sama?" Rukia gasped. Her brother rarely sparred with anyone. Although it did explain why Rangiku was so disheveled. To face a taicho's bankai, especially her brother's bankai, was bound to exhaust a person. Yet despite the obvious exhaustion that Rukia could see, Rangiku seemed to be almost glowing with joy. "It looks, from your face, like it went well."

Rangiku smirked, and her eyes began to twinkle in a way that confused Rukia even more. "Very well. Although I am late for an appointment, so please excuse me."

"Of cour…" Rukia trailed off as Rangiku flashed away, then mumbled to herself. "That was odd." She entered the office shaking her head.

"You may go in." Tanaka looked up from the desk as she entered.

OoOoOoOoOoO

As Byakuya shut the door to his office behind Matsumoto, he couldn't help but leave his hand on it for a moment, staring at nothing as his mind reeled in shock from his behavior.

He'd just had sex, twice, with a woman that he'd known for more years than he could remember and almost never talked to unless it was business. A woman he'd been dreaming about for days. A woman he could still taste on his lips and feel on his body. Wondering what the hell was wrong with him, Byakuya rose to refill his teapot.

A moment later a knock on the door caused him to take a final hurried glance around the office, and seeing nothing out of place he called out, "Enter."

"Good morning, nii-sama." Rukia bowed slightly as she entered.

"Good morning." Kuchiki replied as he poured the water into the pot and added a second cup to the serving tray before carrying it over to his desk.

"The time you asked to see me this afternoon is during a Juusanbantai training, so I was hoping you would have time for me now." Rukia replied, wondering why something seemed different about him this morning. He was more, relaxed, somehow.

"I have time." Kuchiki gestured for her to sit. "Have you spoken with your taicho recently?"

Rukia shook her head as she sat across from him. "No, he hasn't been feeling well. But he did say he wanted to speak to me before training today."

Kuchiki nodded. "I was hoping to speak to you after him, but this shall do." Collecting his thoughts, and forcing Matsumoto out of them, he poured tea for both of them and absently took a sip.

"About what, nii-sama?" Rukia asked, lifting her cup as well and inhaling the wonderful scent of the expensive green…wait. She inhaled again, carefully. "This isn't your normal tea." For the forty years she'd known him, and probably for much longer, he'd always drunk one specific tea.

Kuchiki raised an eyebrow. "You have meetings with two taicho today, and you're more worried about tea than why they want to talk to you."

Actually she was worried about the topic of the meetings, but at the moment had one very specific worry about the tea. She'd smelled it only once before, and briefly, but… She took a small sip, and the slightly-off taste of green tea confirmed her fears.

"You just always drink the same thing." Rukia offered weakly as her mind whirled. She recalled a night less than a week ago, and Rangiku teasing that she could land anyone, including Byakuya. She remembered Rangiku telling them about the tea that Nanao had confiscated from Kyoraku-taicho. She recalled Rangiku's flushed face and disheveled appearance a few minutes ago. To think that she would stoop to…

"Abarai-fukutaicho brought it in a few days ago." Kuchiki unknowingly interrupted his sister's murderous thoughts. Abarai's name immediately brought to mind an image of him fighting with Matsumoto, and Kuchiki knew it was only his many years of suppressing his emotions that kept color from rising to his cheeks. "Said a friend had given it to him, and he'd tried it but didn't care for it."

Rukia's eyes widened, and she began to plan a whole different type of retribution.

"How would you like to join the Rokubantai?"

Rukia rejected the idea of telling her brother about the tea the instant the thought crossed her mind. Not only did she not want to get anyone in trouble, but she thought that it might be good for him. Although she would definitely need to talk to Rangiku about it, as she likely didn't even know that…

Kuchiki cleared his throat as his sister stared off into space.

Rukia blinked abruptly and focused on him, realizing she'd been lost in her thoughts. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

Kuchiki merely lifted an eyebrow and repeated himself. "How would you like to become part of the Rokubantai?"

"What?" All thoughts of anything else fled her mind. "Why me? Why now?"

Kuchiki sighed. "Because as we attempt to replace the three traitors, as well as fill the seats of those killed in the war, we are running out of those strong enough to fill them. I no longer have the luxury of protecting you by keeping you from becoming a seat. But I can choose where you go. Unless you object, you are now my fukutaicho."

"WHAT?"

The last time a scream had echoed that loudly through Seireitei, it had been from a different fukutaicho, and she'd just found her taicho dead.

OoOoOoOoO

Rangiku hummed to herself as she prepared for bed. All things considered, her day had turned out rather well.

She'd made Haineko manifest, had wild, crazy sex with one of the hottest men she knew, and then arrived at the Juubantai offices to find that all the paperwork, hers included, was complete.

Hitsugaya had apparently been unable to sleep the previous night, and had decided to just work all night. Although he brushed off the reason for his insomnia, Rangiku suspected it was connected to Kurosaki Karin. And she wished him the best of luck with that.

He seemed to have a better chance of having a real relationship than she did though, she reflected as her mind turned to the one dark point of her day.

She'd been out drinking with a bunch of the Shinigami, celebrating both Renji's promotion to Sanbantai taicho, and Rukia's promotion to fukutaicho of Byakuya's unit.

Everything had been going well until she'd been cornered by a semi-drunk Rukia, who wanted to know where she'd gotten the audacity to give the Netsui tea to Renji. Even after she'd fully explained that the tea wasn't a love spell so much as an aphrodisiac, Rukia did not seem to be amused by it. Even Rangiku's counter-argument, that if Renji had stopped drinking it and was still with her then what did it matter, hadn't been entirely well received. She hadn't understood why Rukia was so upset until the girl had revealed something shocking.

Rangiku flopped unto her bed, sighing deeply as she remembered.

"_When Renji decided he didn't want the tea, he brought it to nii-sama's office. I found him drinking it this morning, after your _training_ session." Rukia hissed._

_Rangiku's eyes grew wide at the tone of Rukia's voice, and at the insinuation that she knew what had gone on in the office. "I didn't know." She said honestly, choosing to glance around and make sure no one was close enough to overhear them rather than face the accusation in Rukia's eyes._

"_Is it just a game for you? A challenge?" Rukia asked, choosing not to comment on Rangiku's statement. She was fairly certain Rangiku was telling the truth, but wanted to know how she would act now that she knew the _actual_ truth._

_Rangiku met her friend's eyes then, letting the smiling mask drop from her face for a moment, "I don't know him well enough to say if we could work or not. But relationships and sex are not a game to me. Contrary to what many think and say about me, well, your brother was only the second who's ever touched me in that way. Only the second I've ever wanted to." _

_Rukia's eyes had grown huge then, and she had knocked back another shot of sake before leaning in close and whispering, "Tell him about the tea. I do know him well, and he's probably spent the entire day wondering what the hell is wrong with him."_

_Rangiku stuttered, offended, but Rukia continued speaking before she could interrupt._

"_I don't mean because it was you, but because it happened at all. Do you really think that is normal behavior for him?" Rukia downed another shot of sake as she tried to get the image out of her mind. She'd been hounded by it the entire day, which was why she'd cornered Rangiku and begun a conversation that she really didn't want to have._

"_I didn't think much at all at the time." Rangiku giggled as her mask came back up, neglecting to say that she _had_ questioned it at the time, even asked him about it. _

_Rukia sighed as she sensed the conversation was over. "I don't know which of you I should wish good luck. Likely both, as you'll drive each other crazy."_

"Tell him about the tea." Rangiku mumbled to herself as she tossed restlessly on her bed. She wasn't sure if she'd be able to speak to him normally without picturing him naked, let alone bring up something like that. But she knew what Rukia meant. If she didn't tell him, and they continued to have sex, which seemed unlikely as he had said it was just a moment, but if he kept drinking the tea and wanted more moments, and then he found out that not only had she known about the tea but had given it to Renji….grrr!

She'd been telling Rukia the truth that it wasn't a love potion or crap like that. It was simply an aphrodisiac, which although it would increase his passion had no affect on where that passion turned. It would make him aroused, but would not force him to have sex. And it wasn't like she'd deliberately given it to him, nor had she purposely put herself in his path knowing he was drinking it. Still, now that she knew….

Thoughts cascading endlessly through her mind, Rangiku eventually fell into an uneasy sleep.

It was, like the previous day, just before sunrise when she awoke. And although the dream had started out with Byakuya as the star, by the time she managed to rip herself from sleep it had been Gin who held her. Who laughed cruelly as he left her.

With a sigh Rangiku rose and showered, then decided she might as well go for a walk. It was something she'd always done when she wanted to think. To think, walk. To not think, drink. It was a motto she'd lived by for many years.

Although this time she had a specific place she wanted to walk to. Walking over to her closet, she reached up to the back of the one high shelf in it and pulled out a carefully folded garment. Sliding it into a bag and hanging it on her belt to prevent anyone from seeing it, she slid quietly out of the barracks and headed towards Rukongai.

OoOoOoOoO

"Tadaima." Rangiku whispered to the empty, run-down shack, knowing that she would receive no response. She glanced to the far corner, memories of young bodies twined together making her uncertain as to whether she should smile or cry.

With a shake of her head, and after taking a moment to pull herself together, Rangiku passed through the house and into the small yard behind it, plucking an apple from the sole tree still alive, then sitting at the base of the tree as she began to munch on it, knees pulled up to her chest.

"I don't really know what I'm doing here." She whispered after a moment, glancing at her bag. "And I don't know why I saved that when they were cleaning out your rooms. I guess I just wanted to have something of yours. Something other than this run-down place, or the ache in my heart, to remind me of you." Rangiku pulled a white haori out of the bag, her fingers tracing over the Sanbantai insignia over and over as she set it gently on her lap.

"But, honestly, I don't think I want to be reminded of you anymore. I shouldn't keep dwelling on the past, or on the 'what might have been.'" She smiled briefly then, remembering Momo's brief stop at the party the night before. And the looks that had passed between her and Izuru. "I seem to be the last one in Seireitei still mourning any of you, and I think I need to get over it."

Rangiku rose, tossing the apple core aside and setting the haori gently at the base of the tree. She turned, about to leave, when she realized what would happen if children found it and started playing with it. Anyone would know instantly what it was. If news got to Seireitei, and they realized it was a real one…

"Gone from sight and gone from mind. None shall seek, and none shall find. Bakudo Number 26 - Kyakko." She whispered, extending her hand towards the haori, and a moment later it vanished from sight. It was still there, of course, but unless someone tripped over it or realized there was a kido there and broke it, it would not be found.

"I almost wish I could erase my memories of you that easily. But there were good ones too, and I'm not sure I'd want to lose those, even if I lost the heartbreak in the bargain. Haineko said that I'm not sure how to stand without you. She's right, but it's something I'm going to try. I'm going to try and leave you in the past, and move on." She stared at the empty spot for a moment, then whispered the one word she'd never said to him in her life. "Goodbye."

With a slightly lighter heart, she returned to Seireitei. And had been there less than a minute before she rounded a corner and bumped into a hard male chest.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention to…" Rangiku trailed off as she realized she stared up into familiar stormy-gray eyes. "Bya…Kuchiki-taicho."

Byakuya, less irritated by the collision now that he saw who he had bumped into, met her eyes. "Good morning, Matsumoto-fukutaicho. I would have thought you'd be sleeping late, as you used to, now that you are no longer training with Abarai."

"Actually, I'm training with my taicho in a little while, but was just out for a walk." Rangiku replied, holding his eyes as a slight blushed fanned out over her cheeks. She wasn't quite sure how to interact with someone that she'd had what was basically a one-night-stand with.

"I often start my mornings that way. It is a very refreshing beginning before I face the tedium and monotony of the day." Byakuya replied, fighting the urge to reach out and brush his fingers over her cheek. He had hoped he'd gotten her out of his system the day before, and had considered the fact that he did not dream about her encouraging. But the fact that he wished to touch her the instant he saw her, the fact that he flashed back briefly to the glorious memory of her writhing under him, told him that for reasons he couldn't imagine he still thought about her far too much.

Rangiku inhaled sharply for an instant as something hot flashed through his eyes, and remembered his sister's advice. Not only was it the perfect excuse to talk to him, but Rangiku believed Rukia was right about his reaction if he found out from anyone else.

"Actually, Kuchiki-taicho, I have something I would like to speak to you about. Were you planning on walking more, and if so may I accompany you, or would you like to have breakfast with me?" Rangiku chose her words carefully, knowing that respect and manners were the best way to get him to agree. She was certain he found her and many of her friends uncouth and common, and for the most part he was right. But just because she hadn't been raised with a silver spoon in her mouth - or up her ass, a little voice in her head whispered naughtily - didn't mean she didn't know proper manners. She just never cared enough to use them.

Byakuya raised an eyebrow at her proposal. He had never thought of her as the overly emotional, or subtle, type, so he didn't think this was an off-hand way to get him to spend time with her. And he was indeed curious as to what she wanted to speak of. Yet he didn't want to let that show. "I was planning on walking a bit more, and I suppose it would be most convenient since you need to speak to me if you walked with me."

Rangiku blinked, trying to read something, anything, into his voice or facial movements. Yet his voice was the aristocratic, slightly bored voice he always used. And, as always, his face was completely blank. Except for a slight warmth in his eyes that she must have imagined.

She fell into step beside him, trying to decide how to begin. How did you tell a man you barely spoke to that he'd slept with you partly due to an aphrodisiac tea that you gave to his ex-fukutaicho so that the fukutaicho would have the drive to approach the man's sister and confess his love to her?

Rangiku let out a deep sigh. She'd been right about one thing in her decision to go after Byakuya. At least her life wouldn't be boring.

TBC…

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AN2: Again, sorry it's been so long. This story should be updated about once a week now, assuming my personal life doesn't explode again. So, what do you think? I always love that somehow my readers anticipate me. Many of you commented that you thought Bya in chap 5 was OOC with the sex thing, and you were right. I even had a reason! Hopefully he's better here. And I'll apologize to those of you who don't like them for throwing in the Ran/Gin thing again, but in my opinion he was a huge factor on her life, and I don't see her forgetting about him just like that. Please review!

Glossary:

Netsui - literally "Ardor," great passion or excitement, often related to love/lust

"Tadaima." - There's not really an exact translation, but this is a phrase spoken whenever one returns home. Think of the cliché "Honey, I'm home," from old sitcoms. Tadaima, however, is very traditional, and is _always_ said when returning home.

"Bakudo - Kyakko," Bakudo means "way of binding," and is one of the two main classes of spells that Shinigami use. Kyakko is "curving light," and is a spell used to hide an object or person from sight. The spell itself is cannon, but the incantation was made up by me, as it is never given in the series. Because it is a 26, and Rangiku is not that good with Bakudo, I figured she would need the incantation.


	7. Cracks

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I'm just playing with them for awhile. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: And now the pendulum apparently swings the other way. Although numerous people told me they thought chap5 Bya was OOC, numerous other people told me after my comment in chap6 that they hadn't thought he was OOC, but were interested in where I was going with the tea thing. Ah, the joys of trying to keep all the readers happy… Although this chapter may do it. Finally a full chapter of just ByaRan. Okay, technically chap 5 was that as well, but this a full chapter of emotions and crap, just not a lemon. Enjoy!

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Behind This Mask

By Lady Callista

Chapter 7: Cracks

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_Boldness is a mask for fear, however great."_

_John Dryden _

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

Byakuya had never though of Matsumoto as the silent, thoughtful type, and was therefore surprised when after several minutes of them walking together she still had not spoken. Not that he minded the silence, but it still seemed strange for her. "You said you had something to discuss with me?"

Rangiku jolted out of her thoughts as he spoke, which was slightly disconcerting as her thoughts were of him naked and above her. "Umm…yeah." It took her a little while to remember why she'd wanted to talk to him, and a slight blush spread over her cheeks as she took in his raised eyebrow and worried he knew what she'd been thinking. "First off, I wanted to thank you for yesterday."

Byakuya felt his eyebrows shoot sky-high at her remark, which could very easily be taken several ways. He saw her blush deepen at his reaction, and was glad he was not the only one having flashbacks.

"I mean, um…Haineko. My bankai training. You were right that Renji was going too easy on me, if you hadn't pushed me, um… thank you."

Her blush made him want to kiss her, which caused him to go on the defensive. "I told you the truth that I thought you would abandon training if I pushed you too far. I didn't think you could do it, and was merely trying to make you give up."

This time the color that flew to her face was not from embarrassment. "Well, excuse me for being grateful, I guess I should have known better." Rangiku spun away from him, deciding he could suffer the effects of the tea if he was going to be that much of an ass about things. And was shocked beyond belief when he grabbed her arm.

"You're welcome." Byakuya said quietly, cursing himself for not being able to let her walk away angry. But he'd seen the hurt flash through her eyes when he mocked her ability as a Shinigami, and didn't want her to feel that way. She'd made her zanpakuto manifest! This should be a happy time for her. Reigning in his personal feelings of annoyance at her for nothing more than her being stuck in his head, he used his hold on her arm to turn her until she faced him. "You are one of very few people who can ever say that they proved me wrong, as I told you from the start I did not think you could do it."

That got the smirk he was accustomed to seeing on her face. They began walking again.

"It is indeed boast worthy to prove Kuchiki-taicho wrong." Rangiku smiled a real smile, although it began to fade around the edges as she recalled what had happened afterwards and why she wanted to talk to him. "Um…I did want to talk to you about more than that."

"Not every _moment_ of life needs to be discussed." He said flatly.

"Normally I would agree." Rangiku replied, not looking at him as they continued to walk. "But Rukia-san mentioned something to me, and…"

"Rukia?" Byakuya stopped walking and turned to face her, barely resisting the urge to lift her chin and see her eyes. Although his sister had entered the office not five minutes after Rangiku left it, he'd known her for a long time and couldn't believe that if she'd suspected something she could have refrained from asking him. Especially with the way the family had been pushing him to marry, and with Rukia daring him to pick someone inappropriate…if she'd told Rangiku that…

"She told me about the tea you were drinking." Rangiku said flatly, knowing it would be easier to just say it.

Byakuya cocked his head in confusion, remembering Rukia's comments on it. "I fail to see why either of you care so much about my tea."

"Um…it wasn't normal tea." Rangiku whispered. "It was Netsui tea. In Renji's defense, he didn't know that, and merely brought it to the office because he didn't like it. But…"

Byakuya's thoughts were spinning as she trailed off. Although he'd never heard of netsui tea, the name itself was fairly self-explanatory. At least he wasn't going crazy, which he could admit to no one but himself he'd been slightly worried about. He'd always been so good at controlling his emotions, and his lack of ability to do so yesterday had concerned him. Although that did bring up a question. "How did Abarai have it and not know?"

"Because I gave it to him." Rangiku said softly. "There was this girl he liked, and I thought the tea would help him talk to her. It…it's not like a love potion or anything. I mean, it doesn't make you fall in love with the first person you see or anything dumb like that. It's just, ah, an aphrodisiac. I just didn't want you to keep drinking it, not knowing. Cause after what happened, I mean…"

Byakuya did catch her chin then, forcing her face to tilt up until he could gaze into eyes the color of the sea. He saw both embarrassment and loathing in them. The fact that the loathing was obviously aimed at herself is what tipped the scales and made him speak the truth. "Although I don't believe I would have acted on my feelings normally, I can honestly say I was attracted to you before I ever took a sip of that tea."

A dozen emotions flickered over her face before she could control it and manifest a smile. "Everyone is attracted to me. All that says is that you're not blind." It took much more effort than she would have liked to keep her voice light and teasing. His voice had been all to serious, and she had no idea how to deal with a man who got serious.

"And how many are you attracted to in return?" Byakuya asked quietly, using all his control to keep the emotion from his voice. Although he knew her reputation, he also knew how quickly rumors spread in Seireitei. And prided himself on knowing when people lied or exaggerated. "How many have touched you?"

Rangiku took a step back before she could help herself. She'd never thought to hear that question from him, especially not with the flash of ego on his face, as if he knew the number was incredibly low compared to what most thought. She'd expected he would view her as most people did, especially given how easily she'd had sex with him. Damn him for seeing through her, and making her unable to keep this light. Still she tried, "Do you really want to know?"

Although he was fairly certain he knew the answer, Byakuya allowed a slight smirk to come to his lips. "I do."

She took another step away, annoyed when he followed her with that knowing smirk on his face. The man barely showed emotion and when he did it was to make fun of her! She raised her chin to meet his eyes, fully prepared to lie, but something about the heat in his eyes made her swallow the lie before she even began it. "One. Other than you, there's only been one."

He couldn't keep his eye from twitching slightly, knowing who that one was, but the fact that her eyes welled up slightly as she said it made him unable to continue the game. "I can say the same." He whispered as his hand reached out to ghost over her cheek.

"Why?" Rangiku whispered, unable to move as he touched her. It seemed she felt the caress over every inch of her body. "I asked you before, I know, but why me?"

Byakuya managed to break eye contact, and noticed quickly that there were a few people on the streets now that it was growing later. Although not exactly embarrassed to be seen with her, it wasn't really something he wanted spread around. "I would like to take you up on your earlier mention of breakfast. This is something I prefer not to discuss in the streets."

Like a commoner. Rangiku heard the words he didn't speak. Of course he wouldn't want to be seen with her, especially knowing someone could overhear them. She was so busy coming up with the best insult to describe what a pompous ass he was that it took a second to register his next words.

"My servants should have breakfast prepared by now. And they always make enough for two, in case my sister joins me, which she almost never does. Would you like to join me?" Byakuya tried to keep the invitation light, yet knew she would see through that. It wasn't like he regularly invited people. He debated with himself whether or not he should tell her the secondary reason for the invitation. "I might even have time to give you a tour of the house."

"I've seen it." Rangiku mumbled before she could stop herself.

Byakuya heard her perfectly well, but ignored it for the moment, although it did make him more certain that the chrysanthemums on his wife's grave had been her doing. "Will you join me?" He held out one arm in a gentlemen's gesture, a move both completely natural for him and very rarely used.

Rangiku smirked outwardly, but inside her emotions were whirling. She did a quick reevaluation even as she reached out and slid her arm lightly through his. "I would love to." She said quietly, her voice light and flirty again, showing none of her inner turmoil.

They walked the short distance to his mansion, neither of them speaking, and both aware of the whispers in their wake.

Rangiku wasn't sure what his motive was; the only thing she could think of was that he was showing her he wasn't embarrassed to be seen with her, which was ridiculous as they weren't anywhere near being a couple.

As for Byakuya, he was trying to decide whether his head or his heart was leading him. His head was telling him that he was doing exactly what Rukia had told him to. He was being seen with, and knowing the rumor mill attached romantically to, a woman his family would hate and find completely unsuitable. His heart was merely enjoying the fact that he had a beautiful woman on his arm, a woman who for no reason he could think of seemed to like being with him.

His guards bowed as they passed through the gate, and he allowed himself an internal smile as the servant that met him at the door seemed flustered by the woman on his arm.

"Matsumoto Rangiku, fukutaicho of the Juubantai, will be joining me for breakfast." Kuchiki-sama raised an eyebrow as he said it, as if daring the servant to forget his place. He knew most of the servants reported to the elder members of the family, and his head won the argument over his heart briefly as he pictured their reaction. He didn't see the point in doing things just to annoy them, as Rukia wanted him to do. But if it was something he wanted to do anyway…

"Of course, Kuchiki-sama." The servant said as he bowed. "It will be ready in a few moments. If you and Matsumoto-sama would like to wait in the dining hall…"

Kuchiki-sama blinked as he felt Matsumoto's hand vibrate on his arm, a sure sign that she was trying to control laughter, but he ignored it. "We shall." He said regally as he led Matsumoto through the house. He waited until they knelt at the table before asking, "And what was amusing?"

Rangiku smirked, lifting the tea cup that sat next to her place and sniffing it carefully before taking a sip. "I've never been called -sama in my life. Whereas I imagine you always heard either that or -taicho."

"Or boyo." Byakuya mumbled, his thoughts flicking briefly to the female other than his wife or sister who had had the most influence on his life.

"What?" Rangiku cocked her head.

"Nothing." Kuchiki-sama replied. "What would you like them to call you?" The question was out of his mouth before he could stop it, before he could censor it because it meant that he expected her to be around enough for the servants to learn about serving her.

"I kind of like having advanced from Rukongai street rat to someone worthy of being called -sama, but I'm just Rangiku." Rangiku smiled at him. "I feel so out of place here. Like at any moment I'm going to wake up from a dream."

"And do you wish to wake up?" His voice changed somehow, became slightly deeper and more intimate.

Rangiku was saved from answering by the arrival of one of the maids with their breakfast. And after the woman had retreated, she casually redirected the conversation. "So now that we're here will you answer my question? Why me?" Okay, so there was nothing casual about it.

"Will you believe me if I say I don't know?" Byakuya answered quietly.

Although her eyes widened slightly, she slowly nodded her head. "I was wondering if you would consider continuing to train with me." Although her voice was serious, there was a breathiness to her voice that betrayed her.

"I believe I would enjoy that." Byakuya replied, reaching out and brushing his fingers lightly over her hand where it lay on the table. "I would enjoy that very much."

TBC…

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AN2: Questions? Comments? Fan-girl squeals?


	8. Issues

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I'm just playing with them for awhile. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: So I'm just gonna stop apologizing for the delays in putting this out, as well as stop saying when the next part will be out. For some reason this is getting really hard for me to write, and I went through like three drafts of this part, which is something I never do. I know where it's going to end up, I'm just having problems getting it there.

Thanks so much to all the wonderful readers who reviewed the last part, I didn't have time to reply to each of you personally like I normally do, but your comments and praise are greatly appreciated.

Oh, and I am fully caught up on both the anime and the manga (260 and 294 respectively) but am for the most part choosing not to use stuff from them. The anime because I don't want to use those zanpakutos, and the manga because I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't read them. And because it would mean rewriting sections of No Warm Memories, and In Times That She Cried, and I really don't want to do that. So anyway, here goes nothing…

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Behind This Mask

By Lady Callista

Chapter 8: Issues

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_I want to be remembered as the girl who always smiles even when her own heart is broken, and the one that could always brighten up your day even if she couldn't brighten her own."_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

It had been two weeks since Rangiku had begun training with Kuchiki-taicho.

In those two weeks, she'd gone out with the Friday Night Drinking Group twice. She'd been to one meeting of the Shinigami Women's Association. She'd sparred with Hitsugaya four times, and with Kuchiki five times. She'd had two _special _training sessions with Byakuya.

And she'd made Haineko manifest _zero_ times.

Yes, zero. Rangiku thought with frustration as she took a shunpo away from the glittering blades of Senbonzakura.

Unfortunately, her mind was so busy worrying about why she couldn't manifest her zanpakuto, and about avoiding Kuchiki's zanpakuto, that she lost her focus on the man himself for a few seconds. And that was all it took.

"Bakudo number 61 - Rikujokoro."

Rangiku cursed as the six beams intersected over her midsection, freezing her in place. Although one thing she had learned over the past two weeks was that like Kuchiki, she could direct her zanpakuto with her mind, not just with the hilt. She just wasn't that good at it yet.

She spun Haineko towards him, but the action was much slower than it would have been were she directing it with the hilt of her zanpakuto, and also was not as powerful. Senbonzakura easily blew Haineko away, and a shunpo later Kuchiki had his weapon back in katana form and an inch from Rangiku's throat.

"I yield." Rangiku huffed as she glared at him, returning Haineko to her unreleased form.

Kuchiki withdrew both his blade and the kido, and studied her as she used her pink scarf to wipe sweat from her face and neck. She looked exhausted, but then this was the third day in a row that she'd trained with him, and he knew she'd trained with her taicho the two days before that. Maybe she simply didn't have the energy to train properly at this…

"Why can't I do this?" Rangiku sighed as she grasped her hands behind her back to stretch her shoulders, enjoying the side benefit of watching his eyes wander to her puffed-out chest before he could help himself.

"You've been training to the point of exhaustion even for someone who trains regularly, which you never have." Kuchiki-taicho said without inflection. "But that aside, you know it can take years to manifest a zanpakuto, let alone achieve bankai."

"I know." Rangiku huffed as she rolled her neck. "It's just that after the talk Haineko and I had right before the first time, well, I thought she'd be more helpful. I thought we'd come to an understanding, but now…"

"You said she made you face things you didn't want to face. That is common." Kuchiki replied, his face somehow softening slightly. Unbeknownst to her he was remembering what Senbonzakura had made him face when he first manifested. "But did you actually think on or try to resolve any of the things she told you of?"

"Resolve?" Rangiku scoffed. "Resolve issues in two weeks that it took decades to develop?"

Kuchiki sighed. "Until you at least begin trying, you will have difficulty making her manifest. It's different for everyone, of course, but part of knowing and using our zanpakuto fully involves knowing ourselves. That is one reason it takes so long."

"Well, I sort-of resolved part of it, but as for the rest…" Rangiku trailed off as he continued to stare at her impassively. "You won't ask, will you?"

Kuchiki only shook his head. "It's personal. Anything your zanpakuto says to you is as personal and private as is possible. It is not something to discuss with others."

"But I always discuss my problems with other people, and they do the same with me. That's what friends are for, to help you with…with stuff you can't deal with on your own." Rangiku shot back.

Kuchiki only raised an eyebrow. "If you are comfortable discussing this with someone else, you should do so. If you do not mind discussing your personal issues with friends, if you feel that would help you, then you should do so. However, I am not your friend, and I am not comfortable discussing personal issues. Added to that, all the taicho have a meeting in about ten minutes."

"I know." Rangiku sighed, still finding it strange that someone she was having sex with didn't consider himself at least her friend. Although if asked she wasn't sure how she'd phrase what they were to each other either. "But I would be grateful, when you have the time, if you would be willing to put aside your dislike of discussing personal issues, and maybe speak with me about this."

This time both his eyebrows shot up. "With all the friends you have, you would choose to speak of this with me?"

"Except for Hitsugaya, my friends aren't exactly the type to discuss serious issues either. And he's not big on personal issues. And only he and Renji have bankai, so only they know what it's like to go through. I just thought…" Rangiku trailed off, looking down and away from his suddenly too intense eyes.

"Allow me to ask a question you once asked of me." Byakuya replied as he stepped slightly closer, responding to the somehow fragile tone her voice had taken on. He could swear he'd seen pain flash through her eyes for a split-second when he said he was not her friend. "Why me?"

Rangiku continued to look at her feet. "That could be seen as two questions."

"Answer whichever you prefer." Byakuya replied, glad she had understood the implied double-question. "But if you cannot speak with me of this, I do not think you will be able to speak of what your zanpakuto told you, which is much more personal."

Rangiku took a deep breath as her thoughts flew by. She decided that, for now, she would give the easy answer. "The answer that first day would have been similar to yours; I simply needed someone and you were there." She smirked, knowing that it would show in her voice. "Plus, any woman who doesn't have at least one sexy dream about you needs to have her head examined. I got to make my dream come true."

Byakuya ignored her attempt at jocularity. "You have a different answer now, however?" He presumed, wishing he could see her eyes. He'd noticed in the past few weeks that although she generally wore a happy face, her eyes often gave her away. Most others probably didn't notice, but his father had schooled him to control his eyes since he was young, as they were often what gave a person's emotions away.

She spent a second cursing silently that he wouldn't let her get away with the easy answer.

"The answer now is not simple, and talking about it would make you late for your meeting. But I will say I'm glad it's you that was there. Because I was feeling weaker than I ever have, and could have easily been taken advantage of." Rangiku stopped speaking as his fingers brushed her cheek, then found her chin and made her raise her face to meet his piercing eyes.

"No gentleman would take advantage of a lady in distress." Byakuya replied simply.

"And, of course, all the male Shinigami are gentlemen." She said sarcastically. "There are those who would have bragged to their friends, or made fun of me, or any number of things. You simply gave me what I needed, and are continuing to do so with no expectations. I don't know if I'd be where I am without you…"

Byakuya's eyes widened as a sheen of tears began to coat her eyes, and he withdrew his hand hastily, not entirely comfortable with them or understanding their cause. He was used to people relying on him up to a point, he was a taicho and a noble after all, but something in her tone was too personal for him to deal with at the moment. Plus something hurt within him when she said the words 'no expectations.' That was something they would have to discuss very soon.

"As for my friends," Rangiku spoke quickly now, afraid she would cry outright if he touched her again, or if he withdrew any further. "I know you won't spare me hard truths, won't lie to me to make me feel better. My friends might, and that won't be of any help."

Byakuya held her eyes for a moment, then replied gently, "I will try to never lie to you. And I will see if I can find the time for this discussion." He almost reached for her again, but there was something close to panic in her eyes.

The bell ringing to announce the hour, and with it the taicho meeting, saved either of them from the conversation having to continue.

"I hope you can." She whispered as he left her.

It was the fact that no one ever asked her how she was, Rangiku thought as she looked at the receding figure almost wistfully before wandering over to the edge of the field and the water she had left there.

She was Matsumoto Rangiku, and Rangiku-san was always fine. She was always cheerful and happy, and often flirty and drunk. She never allowed people to see her upset, never allowed anything negative to show on her face.

She'd taken a long, hard look at herself over the past two weeks, and she knew now what Haineko has meant about her own mask and the masks of others. She'd been annoyed with Hitsugaya for years and years over his cold demeanor. She'd agonized over the fact that there was something wrong about Gin she could never put her finger on until it had been too late. She'd been outraged for Orihime-chan's sake after the girl told her how much she liked Ichigo, and after she'd seen how much he'd risked for her and cared for her while wearing the mask of 'just another friend.' She'd been upset enough by Renji's demenor of 'Rukia's just a friend" that she'd given him Netsui tea in an effort to get him to confess. She'd been frustrated by Byakuya, and how he was always the noble and the taicho, and how even after a few weeks of training with her on a one-on-one basis, pun intended, she could still rarely tell what was under his blank face.

But somehow he was seeing, at least a little, through her happy façade, and that both annoyed her and intrigued her. There were only two men in her life who had ever seen through it. The first had been Gin, and his very nature had kept them from discussing anything serious. The second had been Hitsugaya, and although completely opposite from Gin's, he also had a nature that made him not want to discuss things like that. He might have listened if she'd brought it up, in fact she was fairly certain he would have, but she was too busy pretending he didn't see through her happy face.

And although she could rarely tell what was under Kuchiki-taicho's mask, those times when she could had become moments she longed for.

Although she'd joked with Orihime that breaking his mask would be harder than breaking Hitsugaya's, she wasn't sure anymore that was entirely true. Hitsugaya's mask had evolved because he looked so much younger than all the other Shinigami, and because his powers came from ice and made him act similarly. Well, actually, she thought as she wandered off the Rokubantai practice field, no destination in mind, it was more the other way around. His power was ice because that's what he felt like inside. His outward face, his mask, was stoic and solitary, and because Byakuya's outward face was the same she'd once assumed they were probably similar inside as well.

But Byakuya's zanpakuto was sakura, was flowers. The beauty of spring and life, as opposed to the harsh, crystalline beauty of ice and death. And the few times she'd seen his eyes show emotion, well, wow…. It had been so powerful she could barely catch her breath. The way he could look at a woman…

Rangiku had been wandering Seireitei aimlessly, and her thoughts trailed off as she bumped solidly into another figure.

"Excuse me…I…Oi, Shunsui, good morning." Rangiku immediately erased any signs of her pondering from her face, and beamed up at the taicho of the Hachibantai.

"Ah, Ran-chan. How goes it this day?" Shunsui smiled down at her.

Rangiku debated for a moment, then decided if she couldn't be honest with one of her oldest drinking buddies, she'd never be able to be honest with Byakuya. She let her smile drop and answered honestly, "Oh, it could be improved by a liter or two of sake. And you?"

Shunsui's smile dimmed a few watts as he replied, "A few liters of sake always improve my day. Shall we retire to my barracks?"

Rangiku froze for a second as he offered his arm to her, his grin back in full force and his body language making a mockery of the gesture that had seemed so masculine and gallant with Byakuya only two weeks ago. "That sounds…lovely." She sighed as she took his arm.

_OoOoOoOoOoOoO_

"So why was your face so sad earlier, Ran-chan?" Shunsui asked two and a half liters into their plan to improve the day.

"I've been working on bankai, and making Haineko manifest." Rangiku replied as she slumped back on the pillows bordering the table in Shunsui's living room. "Some of what she said to me…"

"I remember." Shunsui whispered, knocking back another glass of sake to counteract the roughness in his voice that was surely the result of a dry throat. "One time when I was on Earth, I heard humans talking about a psychologist. A doctor, like Unohana-taicho. But instead of fixing the body, they fix the mind. And I wondered why we didn't have anything like that up here."

Rangiku thought briefly about Hainiko's comments two weeks ago. "We have our zanpakuto. I heard of these psychologists when I was on Earth as well, and they seem to speak in the same way our zanpakuto do. They make us face our inner demons, face the deepest parts of ourselves. And we can't advance in rank, can't grow more powerful, unless we listen to them and work through out faults."

"And did you want to talk to me about what Haineko said your faults are?" Shunsui tilted his head enough that one of his eyes could see her from under the shadows of his hat.

Rangiku leaned over the table to refill both their glasses as she tried to think about how to respond. She flashed back to Byakuya's earlier comment about how conversations between a Shinigami and their zanpakuto should be private, but at the same time her zanpakuto was just a part of her, and normally when a thought popped into her head she just said it, regardless of the consequences.

"Haineko says I'm crying over spilled milk." Rangiku said quietly, her mind flashing nonsensically to what most people would think if they saw the two of them now, 3 liters of sake into the night and already almost passed out. Alone. Yet not a single thought of romance or drunken debauchery was between them. It had never been between them, although both had enjoyed playing the game that made others wonder.

It had always been Nanao for him, Rangiku thought as she continued to speak. "That I've never stood without Gi…Ichim…" Rangiku took a deep breath and began again. "I've never had to stand on my own, without Gin. She says something in me guarded my heart enough that he couldn't break me, but that I'm not all whole either. She said I don't know how to live without him."

"And what do you think?' Shunsui smirked as he refilled their glasses.

"I think I'm living just fine without him." Rangiku cackled as she tossed back yet more sake. "I'm having sex with one of the hottest men in Seire…meh…damn it!"

Shunsui snapped up into a sitting position as if his strings had been snapped. "Ran-chan???"

"Nothing. It's…it's good for me right now. I need it. I'll tell you more if and when…" Rangiku seemed to be sober instantly, looking him dead in the eye. "I didn't say anything."

Shunsui reached out briefly to ruffle her hair. "Sorry, Ran-chan. My mind was wandering on me. Although it did briefly stop on the fact that there is now a man I may someday have to challenge to combat if he hurts you. If it's the man I'm thinking of, from what I've seen and heard the past few weeks but will never say out loud, then I think it will work out all right in the end."

Rangiku gaped at him, unable to believe what he'd just said. How could anything work out between her and Byakuya? How could anyone have seen enough to even think there was something to work out?

"You really should work this out soon." Shunsui said in a lilting tone as she remained silent. "Nanao slapped me with her fan twenty-seven times yesterday, a new record. I believe it was because she was worried about you."

"What?"

"Even since the SWA meeting three days ago, Nanao has been mumbling about you. She thinks you've fallen for some guy or something." Shunsui replied as he crawled around the table so he could look at her from close by instead of across the table.

"I don't know what's going on yet." Rangiku replied, laying back on the velvet cushions, her sake-laden body feeling as if the cushions were three times as thick as they were. "But there's something about him… Even knowing that there was something wrong with Gin, even somehow knowing that I wouldn't have a life with him, I couldn't look at anyone else as long as he was around. But now he's gone. He's finally gone. And whether it's good or bad, part of me doesn't known what to do without him. So I'm being weak for the moment, and I'm leaning on someone else. He has no expectations and no promises."

"Is he the reason that your smile occasionally reaches your eyes these days?"

Rangiku smiled as her eyes slid closed. "Yes, yes he is."

Shunsui waited until her breathing evened out into sleep before he collapsed onto the cushions as well, letting the glorious fog of sake lull him into unconsciousness. As he passed out, his voice came quietly, "As long as he can make you smile, he's worth it." A smile graced his lips as a vision of glasses catching the sunlight ushered his way into slumber.

TBC…

* * *

OoOoOoOoOoO

AN2: Sorry if Shunsui seems OOC, but he's occasionally like this, and I think has a much deeper side than most people realize. Especially when it comes to his friends. Although any input would be appreciated. I'm also moving both Ran and Bya out from under their masks, but that is the privilage of a fanfic writer, as I discussed earlier. As I said at the start of the chapter, I no longer have any idea what schedule I will be updating on, but will do so as often as my muse allows.

Glossary:

Rikujokoro - Six rods, Prison of light. Cannon. One of Byakuya's favorite kido.

Hachibantai: 8th Division, taicho is Kyoraku Shunsui


	9. Friends

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I'm just playing with them for awhile. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: Thanks for the reviews and input guys, I'm glad people liked how I did Shunsui. This chapter will feature the taicho meeting mentioned last time that one of my readers really wanted to see. Sorry if it's not that exciting, but it let me at least play with more characters, if only a little bit. Not a whole lot of ByaRan in this one, but the next chapter will be huge on them, and the part that is there is really sweet.

I'm so glad my plot bunnies are finally back to multiplying like they should be.

* * *

Behind This Mask

By Lady Callista

Chapter 9: Friends

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_"How much of it's genetic? How much of it is fate? How much of it depends on the choices that we make?" Shilo in "Infected" from "Repo: The Genetic Opera"_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"These monthly meetings are so annoying." Kyoraku Shunsui was saying as Kuchiki sat next to him at the table. "I always want sake when they're over."

"You always want sake, period." Abarai Renji replied from his seat a little ways down. He still didn't look quite comfortable in the Sanbantai's haori.

"It's never a _bad_ thing." Kyoraku replied as the final taicho took their seats around them and Yamamoto-soutaicho rapped his staff on the floor, calling the meeting to order.

"Thank you all for attending this _necessary_ and _important _meeting." Yamamoto stressed the two words, his eyes burning into Kyoraku, who ignored him easily. "Is there any emergency business before we begin the normal reports?"

"Then before we begin, allow me to offer congratulations on behalf of us all to Abarai Renji, who is here for the first time as the taicho of the Sanbantai. Recommended by his then taicho, Kuchiki-taicho, Abarai became a taicho two weeks ago after undergoing testing that was evaluated by Unohana-taicho, Komamura-taicho, Hitsugaya-taicho, and Ukitake-taicho. They agreed unanimously to make him a taicho. So, Abarai-taicho, congratulations."

"Uh…thanks." Renji mumbled.

"We shall proceed then." Yamamoto said after a second. "Soi-Fon-taicho?"

"9 members of the Academy class which graduated last week were selected for the Secret Corps, which puts our numbers back to the full compliment we had before the war. The Nibantai is also back to full compliment with the addition of new graduates. I still have not found anyone worthy of being my fukutaicho." Not the slightest emotion showed in her face over the loss of her fukutaicho to Aizen.

"Abarai-taicho."

"The Sanbantai is currently at about 80% of what it was before the war, because Kira-fukutaicho had not chosen any graduates from this class. He wanted to work on trust and group tactics within the unit before making it grow again. Now that there are the two of us, we're going to work on building the unit back to full size."

"Unohana-taicho."

"The Yonbantai lost very few members during the war, so except for a few that were obviously meant to be healers we did not take graduates this time, allowing them to go to units that needed them more. Every Shinigami that was wounded during the war is currently recovered and back on active duty." Unohana smiled at Hinamori as she said the last.

"Hinamori-fukutaicho."

"The Gobantai is currently at only about 50% of it's normal compliment, as many members transferred to other units during the time that no taicho or fukutaicho was leading the unit." Although she looked slightly embarrassed as she said it, she was slowly working on dealing with her issues. After all, she'd had to heal herself before she could help anyone else. "If it is acceptable, I would ask that the unit be allowed to remain this size for a while, as it will be easier to manage by only a fukutaicho."

"That sounds reasonable." Yamamoto replied, glancing around the table. Seeing no objection, he went on. "Kuchiki-taicho."

"The Rokubantai is currently at 95% of the members it had before the war, and I have already selected students from the class that will graduated in 6 months time to bring us up to our full compliment. Kuchiki Rukia-fukutaicho is working out well."

"Komamura-taicho."

"We are at full compliment."

"Kyoraku-taicho."

"The Hachibantai is at about 90%, and like the Rokubantai has already begun selecting future graduates."

"Shuhei-fukutaicho."

"Much like the Gobantai, the Kyubantai has not put effort into growing yet, and is at about 60% of it's capacity. The Seireitei Communications Monthly, which was not put out last month due to the war, will resume publication tomorrow. All that is needed for it are the reports of the fukutaicho from yesterday's meeting, and my report from today's taicho meeting."

"Hitsugaya-taicho."

"The Juubantai is back to 100%, and remains on standby for any reports from Karakura Town, as we are on duty there this month. Reports indicate there is still significant Hollow activity there, likely due to the amounts of reiatsu released in the area during the war, but so far there has been nothing Kurosaki-san and his friends could not handle."

"Kenpachi-taicho."

"We are at 100%. That's about it."

"Kurotsuchi-taicho."

"The Juunibantai is also at 100%, and research continues on the remains recovered of various Espada and Arrancar. So far nothing useful has come of the research."

"And Ukitake-taicho."

"We are at 100% as well, after taking in over 20 graduates of the most recent class. And, as I say at every meeting, I have not yet chosen anyone as fukutaicho."

Yamamoto-soutaicho nodded as he finished. "And does anyone else have any business they wish to bring up?" The was only silence and a few shaking heads. "Then we are dismissed."

He spun around to leave the room, although he did spare a glare for Kyoraku at the exaggerated sigh the man gave.

"Kuchiki-taicho."

Kuchiki had already risen and turned to leave with the others, but the voice of his old fukutaicho made him turn.

"I never thanked you for recommending me." Abarai said as all the others filtered out of the room.

"You deserved it." Kuchiki said simply, almost wishing he could say more.

"It was an honor to be your fukutaicho. I learned a great deal from you." Abarai replied gruffly, not meeting his former taicho's eyes.

"You were a good fukutaicho and leaned well." Kuchiki replied, then turned to leave. It was moments like this that he wished he knew how to express his emotions. Renji had been more than good, he had been excellent. But Kuchiki wasn't in the habit of praising his men. Still, "Good luck with your new unit."

"Thank you."

The voice echoed behind him, but Kuchiki did not even turn. The monotony of the meeting had given him time to think about things as it always did, and as Matsumoto had kept popping into his head he had spent most of the past ten minutes of the meeting thinking about her.

He kept returning to the hurt look in her eyes when he'd said they weren't friends. Did she want to be his friend? But he didn't have friends. He had servants, subordinates, nakama, and fellow taicho. He had advisors and sycophants. He had a sister. But he didn't have friends.

_But what do you consider her then?_

Byakuya blinked, his steps slowing for a second before returning to normal as Senbonzakura asked the question he had been about to ask himself.

What did he consider Matsumoto Rangiku? She was a nakama certainly. He supposed, when it came right down to it, that was generally what he considered the other taicho and fukutaicho to be.

And she was his lover.

But his friend? He'd seen her with those she called her friends. They went out drinking together, and played games together. They talked to each other about their problems, she'd told him. They enjoyed each other's company. They teased each other, yet at the same time supported each other.

He did enjoy her company, Byakuya mused, otherwise he wouldn't have agreed to train with her. Despite her rough manners and way of speaking she could be very insightful, and he could read in her eyes that she enjoyed spending time with him, something very few people ever did. She was witty, although often to the point of annoyance. Or maybe it was only annoying because he could only laugh on the inside. She had loyalty and pride, both traits he respected. And she was beginning to show a seriousness and work ethic he never would have guessed she had in her.

She wanted to talk to him about her problems, and he found he actually wanted to help her with them. He had the next several hours free, and although he had planned to go into the office and get ahead on some paperwork, maybe he should find Matsumoto now and see if she wanted to talk.

He didn't want to see the hurt flash through her eyes again.

He stopped walking entirely as that thought popped into his head, and even as he stopped he caught of glimpse of pink across the street, and saw her just as she bumped into Kyoraku-taicho. He waited a moment, his face blank and his insides slightly disappointed as she took Kyoraku's arm and they wandered off towards the Hachibantai barracks.

Maybe she was going to talk to him about her problems, Kuchiki mused as he headed for his office. Maybe she didn't need to talk to him after all. Maybe he wouldn't have to deal with personal issues. Maybe he wouldn't have to deal with the overly emotional woman.

Telling himself that would be the best outcome, he stepped into the outer office, surprised to find the door to the inner office closed. He'd noticed his sister usually kept it open when she was working, and the fact that the outer door had been unlocked meant either she or another of his seats was in the office, and as no one was at the desk out here it had to be his sister.

He stopped just inside the door as he heard Rukia giggle. She did not giggle.

"Renji, stop. Nii-sama could walk in at any minute…"

"Just one more kiss." Renji's voice came low and more serious and Kuchiki had ever heard it outside of combat. "I can't get enough of you."

Kuchiki closed the door behind him with slightly more force than was necessary, then crossed to the inner door and opened it, unsurprised to find Renji sitting on Rukia's desk looking innocent as Rukia herself looked down at her desk, her face nearly the color of Rangiku's scarf.

"Did you forget this is no longer your office?" Kuchiki said in a monotone as he crossed to his desk, his thoughts whirling. "I never saw much of you when it was."

"Just had to talk to Rukia." Renji replied glibly as he stood and left without another word.

"Good…" Rukia coughed roughly, "Good-day, Nii-sama."

"Rukia." He replied. "Are you following your own advice to me?"

Rukia coughed again, but looked slightly confused. "What?"

"Abarai is certainly someone the family will find unsuitable."

She coughed again, her blush deepening, yet she shot back, "I don't know who they would find more unsuitable, him or Matsumoto-fukutaicho."

"I am not seeing her because it will annoy them." Kuchiki shot back smoothly, having assumed she would challenge him about this at some point. For although Rangiku had not said it outright, her confession about the tea had led him to believe that Rukia knew he had been with Rangiku.

"But why are you seeing her at all then?" Rukia questioned abruptly. "You said you saw no point in it if you couldn't see yourself marrying, and Rangiku-san is not someone I see you with."

"I see no point in dating someone unsuitable." Byakuya corrected her. "We are not dating. We simply have an arrangement that is mutually beneficial to relieving our tensions."

Rukia blinked at him in shock. She couldn't believe her brother had a fuck-buddy, let alone that he admitted it. Although she almost grinned, for she had never heard it expressed so elegantly. _A mutually beneficial arrangement for relieving tension._

"Renji and I….it has nothing to do with the family." Rukia finally said as the silence stretched uncomfortably. "You're correct that they will hate him, but despite my advice to you this has nothing to do with them. I didn't even consider them when he first…when he first confessed to me. But the family is not as strict with me as with you, for they want you to have a child to take over the family. They do not want me to take over, in fact I fear what would happen to the family if you died and I had to."

"The fact that you have no Kuchiki blood would indeed make it very difficult for them to accept you. But that is a card I can play if it ever becomes necessary. I think they would allow me to marry anyone if the alternative was that I give up the title to you."

"Nii-sama!" Rukia exclaimed in shock.

"Not that it will ever come to that." Byakuya's face showed the smallest of smiles, he'd been working that particular thought through his brain for the better part of a week. "As I said, the fukutaicho and I are not dating."

"Of course, nii-sama." Rukia replied, looking down at her paperwork. She could tell the conversation was over, and was so glad he wasn't going to say more about her and Renji that she was willing to let her curiosity about Rangiku-san go. Even though something in his eyes as he spoke of her nagged a bit.

Byakuya turned to his paperwork as well, yet his thoughts wouldn't focus on it. He'd just told his sister him and Rangiku weren't dating, which was correct. But they were on their way to becoming friends, as he'd thought about earlier, and he knew even that would rankle the family.

He'd given the family his life; with the exception of marrying Hisana he'd done everything the family wanted for over a hundred years. Surely he should be able to have a friend if he wanted to.

The very fact that he wanted to was something he refused to dwell on.

"…at is form 243?"

Kuchiki glanced over as his sister's voice cut through his thoughts. "243 is the budget for construction for each unit due to repairs or remodeling."

"That's what I thought, but what is the 11 sub-form then?"

"How much of those repairs are needed because of damage caused by the Juuichibantai." Kuchiki replied easily.

Rukia chuckled. "Similar to how the 8 form is the amount of food and drink rations traded with the Hachibantai to increase Kyoraku's sake budget?"

"Precisely. All the sub-forms with the initials of a taicho followed by the unit number are forms that amend the main form regarding a specific unit." Byakuya replied, glad of the distraction. Maybe if he could just bury himself in paperwork he'd stop thinking about things like friends.

"Are there any KB6 sub-forms I should know about?" Rukia replied with a slight lilt to her voice as she dropped her seal on one paper, moved it into the complete pile, and picked up another.

"There are not. And Rukia, you have chosen well. He is a fine man."

Rukia gaped at his expressionless face for nearly two minutes before she could make herself turn back to her paperwork.

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_The next morning_

"Are you all right, Matsumoto?" Kuchiki asked as she slowly walked onto the practice field, nearly ten minutes late and looking as if the war was still going on.

"I'll manage." Rangiku mumbled, tossing back the rest of the morning's third water bottle in only two swigs. She'd been more drunk last night than she'd gotten for almost a month. "Shunsui and I had a talk last night."

His gaze traveled up and down her, and not in an appraising way. "At a guess, I would say you got drunk together." He said flatly.

"Shunsui doesn't have serious discussions sober." Rangiku replied, managing a smile. "He doesn't have any discussions sober if he can help it."

"Be that as it may, it does not seem you are up for training this morning." Byakuya replied. "Did you still wish to talk to me, or was your conversation with Kyoraku-taicho sufficient to solve your problems?"

Rangiku froze for a moment as her fuzzy mind processed his question. He was offering to talk with her. Now, when her head was pounding, her mind fuzzy, and her stomach doing backflips. Now, when her body ached as if she'd trained for a week straight, and she felt so weak she'd barely managed to walk here. Now, when every loud voice seemed to be screaming in her ears, and the sun seemed brighter than a supernova.

And now the man wanted to talk.

"Can it be someplace dark and quiet?" She hated, but couldn't quite suppress, the whine in her voice.

"Can you shunpo?"

Rangiku gave him the look the question deserved. "I can barely walk."

He took a step closer, allowing the fact that an affirmative answer to his next question was something he desired to show on his face. "Will you allow me to carry you?"

Caught in the spell of his stormy eyes, Rangiku could only nod and try to keep breathing as he swept her legs out from under her, pulling her up against his lean chest. She slid her arms up around his neck with a sigh, leaning her head into his shoulder and allowing her eyes to slid shut. She felt his reiatsu spike, and then they were flying. She couldn't stop her eyes from opening, and the world rushing by faster than she could have ever moved made her eyes close again as her stomach clenched.

It seemed only seconds had passed before Rangiku felt herself being set down on cool, soft grass. The lack of light beyond her squinted eyes told her they were somewhere dark, and she couldn't hear any sounds nearby other than the chirps of birds.

Byakuya watched her eyes flutter open hesitantly as he set her down under the shade of bushes in his private meditation garden. She seemed so fragile now, so delicate. He hadn't realized before just how much her boisterous personality made her seem larger than she was. He set her down gently, kneeling beside her and keeping a hand on her back to make certain she was steady.

"If I'd known I was going to have this discussion today, I wouldn't have had as much sake yesterday." Rangiku said quietly, trying to make her brain work at something close to normal speed. "I'm trying to remember what I wanted to say."

With a light sigh, Byakuya slid closer to her, sliding his knees apart and drawing her in to cuddle into his chest. "We can have this discussion later."

"No, no I wanted to talk and we'll talk."

Byakuya shuddered slightly as her arms slid around his waist and she cuddled into him a little more.

"I told you the short answer was that I needed someone and you were there. What Haineko had told me before was that I was so used to having Gin there, so used to leaning on him that I didn't know how to stand on my own. I think she was saying I was trying to use you to replace him." Rangiku admitted. "And I'm not sure she was wrong. I was used to having someone who would be there for me, both for sex and just to talk to. He always was. And you were starting to be there for me too. It might be part of why I wanted to talk to you. Because I wanted to know if we could talk. Just talk. If we could be friends."

"I am not certain I know how to be a friend." Byakuya replied as he began running his fingers through her hair.

"You've done a good job so far today." Rangiku mumbled, rolling her head enough to look up at him. He leaned down, and surprised her by pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead.

Byakuya jolted slightly as one of her hands slid up his chest to cup his cheek, and he replied hesitantly, "You mentioned that you were glad it was me there when you needed it, and that I had no expectations. I do have one."

Rangiku actually pulled back slightly, looking at him warily.

"I do not know if we will become friends. I do not know if we will become more than that. But I know that until we find out, as long as we are with each other like this, I do not want you to be with anyone else. I will, of course, not be either."

Rangiku gaped at him. "You know you are the second…just because I gave in to you doesn't mean I'm suddenly going to become the slut girl of Seireitei."

"So the expectation is acceptable?" Byakuya raised an eyebrow, barely managing to suppress a smirk. A little color had risen to her face in anger, and her eyes snapped with the vivaciousness she was known for.

"It is." She hissed before she leaned in and attacked his mouth with her own. The arms that were wrapped around her tightened reflexively, one sliding up to cup the nape of her neck and tilt her head to deepen the kiss.

Byakuya pulled back after a moment though, his mind flashing to how fragile she had looked. He slid his hand around from her neck to cup her cheek for a moment, then gently drew her back into his chest. "What else did Haineko tell you?"

"That I always wanted people to think I was happy. That I never wanted to share my pain with anyone." Rangiku sighed, feeling a few tears begin to slid down her cheeks. "I've never had anyone hold me while I cried, Byakuya. I've never let anyone see me cry, not even Gin. And I know you're going to ask 'why me?' again, and I really don't know the answer to that. But for some reason I'm comfortable talking to you. And that would have sounded crazy six months ago, as I didn't think you would ever deign to talk to me over anything other than business."

"I find you are much different upon closer acquaintance than I had assumed you were from afar. I have only once held a woman while she cried, for tears are not something I know how to handle, but I find I do not mind holding you. I, also, cannot tell you why." Byakuya whispered, unable to stop himself from speaking. He had probably shown more emotion with her in the past ten minutes than he had in the past ten years. And something had fluttered in his chest when she said his name.

"The problem is, it seems like she's telling me two different things." Rangiku said quietly. "On one hand, she's saying I need to stand on my own. And on the other hand, she's saying I have to learn how to fully let people in."

"Is it not possible to do both?" Byakuya spoke his thought without thinking about it.

"I don't know." Rangiku whispered. "I don't know if it is for me. I don't know if I can do either one."

"You are already beginning to do the second." Byakuya whispered into her hair. "You are telling me things that are very personal. You are trusting me with some of your deepest fears."

"I don't know why I can talk to you like this." Rangiku replied. "I do have other friends I could talk like this with, but I wanted it to be you. For some reason it matters to me what you think of me."

"I think you are a beautiful and courageous woman." Byakuya whispered, and succeeded in stunning her into silence for almost a minute.

When she could speak, she whispered and cuddled more fully into his chest, "And I think the heart most claim you do not have is kinder than almost any I know."

Byakuya made no reply to that, but brushed another kiss over the top of her head. Rangiku sighed, and discovered she was content to just be held.

TBC…

* * *

AN2: Okay, so I know the sub-forms having the taicho initials doesn't really make sense in Japanese as their names are kanji and not letters, but just deal with it. :-) Also, this is probably the furthest I've pulled Bya and Ran out of their shells, and I'm trying very hard to keep the progress slow and steady and not just rip them out. Let me know if you think I'm going too fast.


	10. Unlimited

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I'm just playing with them for awhile. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: I was so totally happy when I heard that last weeks episode of Bleach would finally get back to the Winter War that I went and rewatched the last dozen episodes from before the filler arc. Turns out I shouldn't have bothered, as the new episode was a recap of all the ones I'd just rewatched. Grrr… So since I didn't get anything new in my anime I figured I should do something new in my fanfic. I was inspired, this is a fairly long part for me. Oh, and one more thing: Major Lemon Warning.

* * *

Behind This Mask

By Lady Callista

Chapter 10: Unlimited

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_And if I'm flying solo, at least I'm flying free…." _

"…_Think of what we could do, together. Unlimited… together we're unlimited." _

_Elphaba in "Defying Gravity" from "Wicked"_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_You must learn to stand without him._

Rangiku jerked awake, Haineko's last words echoing out of her dream. Her thoughts, still sluggish from sleep, tried to figure out what those words meant.

The other times Haineko had told her that, it had been about Gin. But this dream had been about Byakuya. It had been sweet and romantic, something their relationship in real life was not.

Or had not been until two days ago.

Rangiku found herself caught between the terror the dream had inspired by the thought that it was real, and the disappointment that coursed through her upon realizing it had not been.

Disappointment because she'd never had anyone tell her they loved her, and it had been nice to hear.

And terror because in the dream, she'd loved him back. And there was no way a Rukongai street rat loving the Kuchiki prince could end well.

But being his lover, and hopefully his friend, was nice, Rangiku reflected as she rose and began stretching. She was meeting Byakuya in about half an hour, and it would be the first time they'd seen each other since that day. The day she'd told him her deepest fears, and the day he'd held her gently and offered comfort. And understanding.

She still had difficulty believing _that _day hadn't been a dream.

Rangiku wandered into her main room, surprised to find a note sticking out from under her door. She crossed the small room quickly, seeing her name written in a neat and unfamiliar hand. The flap of the note was sealed with the Kuchiki family seal, she noted as she picked it up. Her breath caught.

_"Matsumoto-fukutaicho,_

_I regret that a matter requiring my immediate attention will keep me from training with you this morning. I am uncertain how long the matter will take to resolve, but shall contact you when and if I am inclined to train with you again._

_Kuchiki"_

It wasn't even signed with his name, Rangiku fumed as she tossed the note across the room, only the house seal. Yet she could almost hear his emotionless voice speaking the words.

The first sentence didn't bother her, he was the prince of a great noble house, and a taicho, things were bound to come up occasionally.

It was the second sentence. The one that made is seem like the first part was just an excuse, and that he was done training with her. Done trying to be her friend.

She thought of the gentle way he'd held her the other day, and the passion she'd seen in his eyes when he allowed her to see into his mask. Not under it completely, and not through it, but she'd gotten little peaks into it.

Or so she'd thought.

Apparently he was regretting the comfort he'd given her. Rangiku cursed under her breath as she dressed, determined to train even if she had to do so alone.

She couldn't believe the nerve of the man, she fumed as she stalked out her apartments and down to the Juubantai practice field. He'd listened with seeming understanding to her deepest fears one day, and then only two days later cut himself off from her completely.

Just when she'd thought she was seeing into his mask, he had to go and do something to show her that she didn't understand him in the slightest.

Drawing Haineko, she began going through kata to warm herself up as she continued fuming internally. She'd always hated practicing alone, which was the reason, beyond just being lazy, that she'd always given up on bankai training in the past.

She needed someone to work with, someone to push her to do better.

Maybe she could ask Hitsugaya to…no, she realized. She'd gone to find him the night before about some paperwork, and hadn't been able to find him. And although there was no record of a Senkaimon being opened for him, she could swear she'd felt the residual echo of one as she'd passed the office the night before. Which likely meant he'd gone to visit Karin, and had probably been awake all night. She'd have to pay attention to when he did that, see if there was a pattern to it so she could cover for him if necessary. At least one of them deserved to be happy.

Maybe Renji…no, he'd been so busy trying to get the Sanbantai back in order that he'd been exhausted lately - neither him or Izuru had even shown up for the Friday Night Drinking Group the week before.

She could always ask one of her other friends… Momo might be willing to train, she'd been beaten just as badly by the three bitches as Rangiku herself had. Or maybe Izuru. He didn't like sparring normally, it didn't fit with his views of battle, but he did owe her one for helping him get up the courage to confess to Momo. Shunsui hated training, but maybe she could buy him some sake as a bribe. Or there was always Ikkaku, or…

No. She was going to do this by herself. Bankai training was supposed to be solo anyway, she'd just been using training with others as a way to motivate herself.

Rangiku closed her eyes for a moment, picturing the three bitches and the monster they'd made by combining their left arms. She ran her hand lightly over the scar on her right side - the wound had been so deep that even Izuru's immediate healing kido hadn't closed the wound perfectly, although it had repaired all the internal damage. She would carry the scar for the rest of her life. She let the memories of that fight fill her mind, hearing the taunts of the bitches, seeing the disdain in their eyes for her power and skills.

That should be all the motivation she needed.

Eyes the color of water, and for the moment as cold as the Arctic Sea, snapped open. "Growl, Haineko."

Rangiku flowed from one form to the next, running through kata, Haineko sometimes a blade in her hands and sometimes a cloud of ash spinning around the practice field. She imagined that each swing of the blade struck Gin. That each tornado of ash engulfed Byakuya. Screw them all. She didn't need anyone else. She only needed herself. She was going to do this by herself, Byakuya be damned.

Rangiku gasped as Haineko's power seemed to shift, and she could almost feel a huge burst of reiatsu building inside of her. Just as her vision started to shift as well a voice broke her concentration, and suddenly the new feelings vanished.

"I thought we were using the Rokubantai's training field this morning." Kuchiki commented as he took a few steps closer to her.

Rangiku spun to face him, fury painting her face. "Oh, don't stretch your busy schedule for me. I got your note, and do you know what? I don't care. I don't need anyone to train with me. If you are never _inclined to train with me _again, I don't care. I don't need you. I don't need anyone but myself." Even through the fury, Rangiku felt that odd reiatsu building again, shifting inside her. And she realized that the last sentence she'd spoken wasn't exactly correct.

"Matsumoto…what are you talking about? What note?" Byakuya knew confusion was showing in his eyes, but didn't care at the moment. She'd shown him so much of herself the other day, surely he could trust her with seeing a little bit of him. "I enjoy training with you, and spending time with you."

She didn't even register his words. "All I need is myself. And Haineko."

Byakuya blinked as she screamed the words at him, then suddenly went still and silent, her eyes closing. It was exactly like what had happened when she'd first made Haineko manifest, and he was by her side in a flash, afraid she would collapse again. He was also very confused.

What note? Why would she think he no longer wanted to train with her? Why was she so mad at him? The questions flashed into his head one after another as he waited for her eyes to open again, and he couldn't help it when one of his hands strayed to Senbonzakura's hilt. If Haineko was manifesting again, and if he was correct about just how mad Rangiku was at him…

His only warning was the tornado of ash that had continued spinning around the field vanishing. It was just enough warning for him to shunpo back before a huge gray cat materialized next to her and growled menacingly at him.

Her eyes snapped open, and he could swear she growled herself.

Byakuya carefully held his hands out to his sides, not wanting this to become a physical fight. Because he could tell that at the moment, she wouldn't be sparring. She'd be fighting for real. He knew she couldn't beat him, but he didn't want to hurt her. He did want to understand why she was angry.

"Rangiku…"

Emotions he couldn't place flashed over her face, and he realized it was the first time he'd ever used her given name out loud. He'd told her to call him Byakuya when they were alone, and she had a few times, but he'd never returned the honor. Knowing how he'd felt the first time she said it gave him an idea as to what the emotions playing over her face were. Yet a second later those flickers were gone, and she was just angry again.

"Why did you send me that note and then show up anyway?" Rangiku hissed, Haineko still a menacing presence at her side. The anger was so strong it left no room for satisfaction that she had manifested her zanpakuto. The anger also washed away the thought that without that note, she probably wouldn't have done it.

"Matsumoto, I don't know what you're talking about. What note?" Byakuya asked carefully.

Her anger faltered at the obvious confusion in his voice. "You didn't send me a note this morning?" She laid a hand on Haineko's flank absently, and the great cat lowered its head to rub against her shoulder comfortingly.

"I did not." He carefully moved a little closer to her. "I waited for you at the Rokubantai's field, and when I felt your reiatsu spiking over here I came here to see why you had not come to train."

Rangiku turned her head closer to Haineko's and whispered, "I understand what you were saying now. Thank you." The great cat licked her face and turned back into a blade, which she sheathed as all the anger drained from her face.

"Matsu…"

"Come with me." Rangiku spun on her heel and headed back to her apartments in the barracks, not even checking to see if he was following her.

Byakuya followed her, closing the door to her rooms behind him and standing awkwardly just inside the door as she stalked into the room, picking up a folded sheet of paper from the floor and thrusting it into his hands.

"I found this under my door when I awoke this morning."

Byakuya scanned the paper with a frown, anger slowly building as he saw the Kuchiki family crest at the bottom of the letter. "This is the family seal, used by every member of the family except for Rukia and myself. We each have our own personal seals, which are based on the family one but different. But they would have known you wouldn't know that."

Rangiku frowned as he handed the letter back to her, and then took a card out of the neckline of his shihakusho and passed it to her as well. She remembered Rukia giving her a similar card once, to prove to the guards at the Kuchiki mansion that Rukia had given her permission to be there, and she did remember it being a slightly different seal than the one on Byakuya's card. And although they were both similar to the family crest on the letter, she could indeed see the differences.

"You really didn't send the letter." She looked up at him finally, making it more a statement than a question.

Byakuya shook his head. "I would guess one of the servants saw us the other day, and told the family. They probably hoped I would not try to discover why you didn't show up, and that neither of us would lower our pride enough to confront the other about why we stopped seeing each other."

"Why do they care?" Rangiku didn't really understand.

Byakuya sighed, almost reaching out to take her hand. But if he touched her now they would probably just end up having sex, and she deserved to know what she was getting into. He moved past her and crossed the room to stare out the window.

"Byakuya?" She said hesitantly from behind him when he didn't speak for nearly a minute.

"The family was…concerned…during the war. Rukia is my heir, but neither of us has any children, and we are the only members of the main branch of the family. If we'd both been lost in the war…" Byakuya sighed again, turning to face her. "The family is pressuring me to marry again. But it must be someone they find suitable."

Rangiku's eyes grew huge. "So they wanted me out of the way, because I'm not suitable. I'm not good enough for you. They must have been really mad when they found out that…"

Byakuya saw the thought cross her face, and took a step closer to stop her by gently pressing his fingers over her lips. "Rangiku…I don't care what they think. I'm not with you to make them mad. I told you the other day that I would try to never lie to you, and I never have. I can't explain why I'm attracted to you, but I am. I'm not using you to rebel against them. I've never let them control this aspect of my life, and I never will."

Rangiku felt like her eyes were going to pop out of her head. The caring man of the other day, who'd held her sweetly and listened to her feelings, had been hard enough to equate with the image of Kuchiki-taicho she'd always had. And this man, who looked at her with emotion on his face and earnestness in his voice, was even harder to equate with Kuchiki-taicho. With Kuchiki-sama.

Maybe that was because he wasn't. Here, with her, he was only himself. He was Byakuya.

She couldn't stop herself from licking her lips as his fingers withdrew, and she saw his eyes track the movement. The quip that was on the edge of her tongue died at the honesty and passion in those stormy eyes when they snapped back up to meet her own.

"What will they do if we continue on as we have been?" She had to ask. It wasn't just his eyes that were bare to her, but his entire face. His mask was completely gone for the first time she'd ever seen. And she was elated by that fact.

"I'm not sure." Byakuya replied. "When Hisa…when I was courting my first wife, they didn't focus any of their attention on her. They put all their effort into trying to convince me to choose another. But she was very different from you, and wouldn't have put up any sort of a fight if one day I'd told her I never wanted to see her again. She would have been hurt, but she never would have confronted me. Perhaps they thought you would do the same, and so this time tried to convince you since they failed with me last time."

"But do you think they'll keep trying?"

"I'm certain they will." Byakuya admitted. "I don't know what they'll do, but they can be…frightening when they are determined."

"What if they don't know?" Rangiku mused. "What if we're more careful? Never let anyone see us together…"

"You would agree to a relationship like that?" Byakuya asked in surprise. Part of his surprise was that the word _relationship_ had just come out of his mouth. It had only been a few weeks since they'd become lovers, only two days since he'd admitted he wasn't sure he knew how to be a friend, and yet now he spoke of being more than friends without even thinking about it. "Always hiding? Never being able to tell any of your friends…"

Rangiku sighed. "If it's a choice between that and never knowing what the Kuchiki's are going to do next… always having to wonder if they'll try to stop us from….being friends. Worried that any new Shinigami that talks to me might be one of their agents, trying to spread some rumor or convince me of another lie…"

Rangiku trailed off as Byakuya slid his fingers along the side of her neck, his thumb brushing her cheek.

"I wish it did not have to be this way."

Rangiku smiled. "I'll take what I can get. Although I suppose in some way I should be grateful to your family. If that note hadn't pissed me off as much as it did, if it hadn't made me so determined that I didn't need you or anyone else, it would have taken me a lot longer to stand on my own like Haineko told me to."

"What did she say to you today?" Byakuya questioned, somewhat surprised neither of them had mentioned it before this. The fact that their personal problems had been more important than the monumental achievement she'd just made said something.

"That I'd always needed others, not just in my personal life as she made me think earlier, but in my professional one as well. I always hated training alone. Hated being alone. But I'm not alone. I always have her. I always have Haineko." Rangiku whispered.

Byakuya drew her gently into his arms, and she sighed as she rested her head on his shoulder and allowed her arms to link around his waist.

"I think you'll be able to manifest her whenever you want now. Congratulations." He whispered also, dropping a kiss onto her forehead.

"Stage one of bankai training complete." She replied, an edge of mockery in her voice. "Now comes the really fun part."

"It can take years, but I believe you will succeed." He answered, pulling away enough to meet her eyes.

The strength she saw on his face, his _belief_ in her, nearly took her breath away. No one, no one, had ever looked at her like that before. "Byakuya…"

He leaned down to kiss her gently.

The kiss went from gentle to passionate as a familiar flash of fire seemed to surge through her body, and Rangiku attacked his lips, hands pushing his haori off, suddenly desperate for the feeling of his flesh under her hands.

She was exhausted emotionally from their discussion, but this was easy. This part of a relationship was always easy. The flash of fire that washed away everything else was a relief. The confusing emotions his confession had brought up; the annoyance at having to hide their relationship, the joy that they _had_ a relationship, the confusion that never really went away as to what he saw in her, the awe at being allowed to see him without his mask; they were all gone.

The fire raged as she pulled his gi away, leaving his hakama hanging dangerously low as her tugging had loosened the ties. She reached for the ties eagerly, surprised when his hands caught hers and pulled them gently away.

Before she could comment he had swept her up into his arms, and she eagerly linked her arms around his neck, nibbling on it as he carried her into her bedroom. She hadn't bothered to put her futon away, a fact she was grateful for now. Yet confusion once again warred with the fire running through her when he didn't lay her on the bed, but set her on her feet beside it. He didn't tear her clothing away. His hands didn't grab for her greedily. He only cupped her face in his hands and gave her a slow, drugging kiss.

A lazy meeting of lips that spun out longer and longer, gentle and sweet in a way she'd never been kissed before. Her hands slid down to her sides, and he drew them behind her back, cuffing her wrists in one hand while the other slid into her hair, gently massaging her neck as the kiss deepened, yet remained tender. The hand slid over the side of her neck, fingers spreading lightly over her collarbone, dipping teasingly over the top of her breast before returning to her face to cup her cheek.

"Byakuya." The fire was dimming, and in its place was a feeling she couldn't begin to describe. "Touch me."

"I am." He whispered, sliding his hand into the side slit of her hakama to ghost fingers over her hip. His kisses trailed down the side of her jaw to her neck. "After the first time, I told you I felt like I should apologize for my lack of finesse. Yet there is something to be said for the flash of heat, for letting passion rule reason."

"Byakuya…please." She breathed as his hand continued skimming over her body lightly. It had never been like this before. Not even with Gin, and certainly not with Byakuya. It had always been the heat, and the wildness. She wanted that fire, because this was frightening. Even all the heat that had spun around them previously had been safe.

But mixed with the fear of what he was doing to her was the thrill of being taken like this. Being taken so slowly that she felt each caress, each brush of lips.

Unknowingly, he echoed her thoughts, his voice low and intimate. "But it's hard to feel when there's only heat."

He released her hands, sliding his into her gaping gi, letting his fingers brush her nipples lightly as he nibbled on her collarbone. He could feel her heart beating under his fingers, hear the baffled moans torn from her throat.

He wanted her like this. He wanted her to feel every caress, wanted to watch her body become boneless and her eyes cloud as he took her higher and higher. He wanted to learn her body, learn where she most liked to be touched, learn what beautiful sounds he could coax from her. The other times had been so fast, and while they had certainly been enjoyable for both of them, it wasn't the same. Once you knew the joy of this…

"You've never been touched like this." Byakuya whispered as her hands gripped his waist. He pulled back from her for a moment, taking her hands in his own and leading them to his kenseikan, tipping his head forward to allow her to remove it. "You've never felt what I can make you feel."

Rangiku's fingers shook as she removed the kenseikan, placing it carefully on the stand beside her futon. He'd never removed it when they'd had sex before. She ran her fingers through his long hair as she'd wanted to do for so long, gazing into his eyes with wonder and still a bit of fear. She'd never have dreamed this much tenderness was under that mask. It was like he was a completely different person.

Byakuya kissed her again as she set his hairpiece down, another drugging kiss that left her trembling. He untied her belt slowly, letting it drop to her feet as he gently slid her gi off her shoulders, sliding his fingers teasingly under the straps of her lacy black bra, but making no move to remove it. His lips trailed over her shoulder, and he moved behind her, sweeping her hair to the side to trail kisses over her shoulder blade to nip gently at the back of her neck.

He could swear he felt her taut body go boneless, and he let his hands slid into the slits of her hakama again to trail over her hips, tracing the v-shape of her pelvic bone with light fingers as his mouth continued to worship her neck and shoulders.

She tried to shift, to get him to touch her where she most burned for him, but his hands slid away, trailing up her stomach to tease her breasts again as he finally undid the front clasp of the bra and cupped her chest, thumbs circling her nipples gently.

"Lie down with me. Please. Please, I can't…"

Her voice alone, the huskiness that hitched and then cut off as he blew warm breath on her ear before nibbling on it, almost undid him. But he wouldn't cheat her, or himself, out of this.

He slid one hand up to her chin, turning her head for another drawn-out kiss. His hands slid back down her body, one playing with her nipple while the other slid with devastating slowness up and down her side until she went limp against him.

He lay her down the bed then, but he didn't cover her. He lay on his side beside her, and when her hands reached for him urgently, he gently collected her wrists again and lifted them over her head as his lips and free hand trailed slowly down her body.

Rangiku was lost in sensations, sensations she'd never imagined. He wasn't touching anywhere he hadn't touched before, but it was like she was feeling it for the first time. His mouth was so gentle, so impossibly tender as he trailed over her body.

She was on fire again, but it was a fire she'd never felt the like of. How could he make her feel this? How did he not go mad with the slowness of it? Yet at the same time how did if feel so incredibly right?

It was more than pleasure, somehow softer and yet stronger than lust, and it put every dream she'd ever had about a man to shame. And the tiniest part of her that wasn't lost in what he was doing to her was terrified.

Byakuya felt her opening to him, a pliant surrender that was in some ways more exciting than passion. He could almost feel her skin humming as he dipped his tongue into her belly button, and he finally let himself untie first her hakama and then his own. Shedding his easily, he slid down her body as he pulled her own off, letting lips and hands slid over her hips and legs. He felt her thighs tense in anticipation and backed away without touching her core.

She sobbed, and he covered her mouth with his own again, emotions pouring between them as finally, finally, he lay over her and slipped into her smoothly and gently.

Her back arched, and her mouth tore away from his with a moan as her hips thrust mindlessly, but he slid one hand down to hold them down and let his weight sit on her a little more heavily. "No. Not fast. Not this time. Just feel it."

Even as his blood pounded, even as his body demanded he take her as fast and hard as he could, he moved in gentle, gliding strokes. He watched her face as her eyes clouded, as her mouth opened to release gasps and moans. His hand left her hip, and keeping the bulk of his weight on the other hand to avoid crushing her, he began to trail his hand over her body again, soft, soothing strokes that echoed his movements inside her.

Rangiku could see nothing but his eyes as they held hers, could feel nothing but his hand on her body and his sure, steady strokes deep within her. She could feel her orgasm growing again, slowly, so achingly slowly. Every touch seemed to sensitize her further.

And just when she thought she could take no more, his hand closed over her breast as he did _something _with his hips, and the growing ache within her suddenly exploded. Her hands fisted in the sheets as she sobbed his name.

Byakuya collapsed on top of her, breathing heavily and feeling like his pounding heart might explode any second. She lay bonelessly under him, and after a minute he managed to roll himself off of her, worried about crushing her.

Rangiku couldn't move. The edges of her world were still flecked with a golden haze, feelings running through her body she had no idea what to do with. She managed to whisper his name like a prayer.

Byakuya managed to turn his head to look at her, and suddenly stopped breathing for an instant as a realization hit him that he couldn't believe.

Her head rolled enough to look at him, and Byakuya put on the most desperate mask he had even shown her. He allowed his smile to reach his eyes.

But inside he was reeling. For he'd just realized something that filled him with quaking despair. He realized he'd gone and done the most illogical thing he'd ever done in his life.

He'd set out to seduce her, to show her what love could be like, and instead he'd been seduced by her.

He was in love with Matsumoto Rangiku.

Now what in the name of all the gods was he supposed to do about that?

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_I have seen men in real life who so long deceived others that at last their true nature could not reveal itself... But he who cannot reveal himself cannot love, and he who cannot love is the most unhappy man of all._

_-Soren Kierkegaard_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

TBC…..

* * *

AN2: So, um, yeah. The plot bunnies were screaming this at me, and wouldn't leave me alone till it was done. Which is why it's so long, there was just no good place to cut off before this. I've also never been more worried about OOCness than in this chapter, but like I said earlier, masks. And what's under them. This is the Byakuya we've only really seen once in cannon, when he was talking to Rukia and explaining how she was really Hisana's sister. This is the Byakuya I feel is under the mask. Or at least the one I want to be. Reviews would be most welcome. Onegai?


	11. Reflections

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I'm just playing with them for awhile. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: Thanks to all those who reviewed. It was less people than I'm used to, but I guess that's what I get for not updating in months. One of my reviewers asked a few chapters ago if I could work a little HitsuKarin into this, kinda like I put in bits of RenjiRukia, but I'm afraid that's really hard to do. Karin cannot be in SS, and as her and Hitsugaya are hiding their relationship, even if Rangiku is on Earth with him for some reason he wouldn't let her see them together. But I've done what little I can with Hitsu in this chapter, and I'm pretty sure both of them will appear in the last chapter. And I am planning to do another short HitsuKarin fic in the future, set years after the previous one ended. Oh, and one reviewer had a question, but has PM blocked, so I couldn't answer them. They wanted to know where this story was, timeline wise, compared to No Warm Memories. I'm actually keeping track of dates fairly well for this series, because as I add more and more stories to it it's going to become very important for me to remember what is going on when, and which conversations and pairings have and haven't happened yet. So here's the run down, which I'll probably put up on my profile soon.

The first seven chapters of No Warm Memories take place in the three weeks immediately after the Winter War ends, then there is a time jump, and the remaining 6 chapters take place over the course of two days, but almost two years later. In Times That She Cried takes place around chapters 6 and 7 of No Warm Memories. (Which coincides approximately with chapters 2-7 of BTM.) Chapter 1 of Behind This Mask begins about a week after the Winter War ends, and chapters 2 through 7 take place about two weeks after that. Chapters 8 and 9 take place an additional two weeks later, with chapters 10 and 11 following a few days after that. And as it is shown in the scene two years later in NWM that Bya and Ran are still hiding their relationship, this story is going to experience a few time jumps as well. Because I've gotten them out from behind their masks, at least with each other, and the only true advancement of the plot at this point will come when they decide to stop hiding their relationship, which is going to take a long time. So be ready for that.

* * *

Behind This Mask

By Lady Callista

Chapter 11: Reflections

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_When you love a woman, beyond reason, does it hurt, or give you pleasure?"_

"_Both, very often at the same time."_

_Shawn and Aidan Gallagher in Nora Roberts's "Tears of the Moon"_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

Rangiku lay in bed for a long time after Byakuya left her. Although his emotionless mask hadn't gone back up, there had been something odd about his behavior those last few minutes. Especially since this entire thing was his fault.

She was scared of him.

It was almost panic-inducing to realize, but she was scared of him. Scared because he'd changed something between them. He'd shown her what is was like to be cherished, to be cared for, and in doing so had changed the game.

She'd gone after him at first because he would be a challenge. She'd stayed with him, opened up to him, because she'd enjoyed his company. Enjoyed him, both in bed and out of it.

She knew it had been a risk to sleep with him, to let another man touch her the way that only one ever had for so long. But what was life without a few risks?

She hadn't planned on falling in love with him.

She let out a laugh that bordered on manic. In love with Kuchiki-taicho. With Byakuya. That was just impossible.

She didn't know anything about love, not this kind. She didn't want to. She wasn't going to be in love with him. She couldn't be in love with anyone.

Covering her face with both hands, this time her laugh _was_ manic. That was it, of course. She didn't know anything about love, so how could that be what she was feeling? She was just reacting to the sweetness he'd shown, was just being susceptible to the first man who'd ever really shown her the difference between having sex and making love. Of course one didn't have to be _in_ love to _make _love.

It was so easy to twist things up until she ended up with love. Especially since she'd dreamed of him saying it. But she remembered the terror the dream had inspired, which is why she couldn't be in love. Being in love made you feel good. Made you happy. She wasn't happy with the idea of being in love, which meant that she couldn't be.

Thoughts firmly settled on the matter, except for a nagging doubt which she shoved ruthlessly into the far back corner of her mind, she got up, dressed, and headed into the office.

"You're late." Hitsugaya's voice greeted her as she walked into the part of the office the two of them shared.

"I…I didn't think you'd be in till later." Rangiku replied as she took her seat. He certainly didn't look like he'd gotten little to no sleep the night before.

He seemed to color slightly. "Why is that?"

Rangiku debated on whether or not she should tell the truth, and finally told part of it. "I was looking for you last night, and I thought I felt a Senkaimon, and since I couldn't find you I assumed you were down in the real world for something, meaning you probably didn't get much sleep."

His cheeks got slightly redder, yet he answered her calmly, "Yes, I was down on Earth. Speaking with Kurosaki. But that doesn't mean there isn't paperwork to do."

Rangiku noted that he'd neglected to specify _which_ Kurosaki he was talking to, but knew pointing it out would only embarrass him more. Besides, if he was seeing the girl, the relationship had to be kept as secret as her and Byakuya's did, although for different reasons. Although she trusted Hitsugaya with her life, and would certainly trust him not to tell anyone, even one person knowing a secret made it harder to keep. Rukia knew about her and Byakuya, but she trusted him to deal with his sister. Having suspicions was one thing, but actually telling someone…

So she let the subject drop. And dropped a different bombshell instead. "I made Haineko manifest this morning. I think I can do it whenever I want now."

He looked up at her quickly, his face showing both surprise and pride. "Congratulations, Rangiku." He said with feeling, sharing one of his rare smiles with her. "I expected it to take much longer than this."

"So did I." Rangiku admitted. "But I was sort-of forced to face some things she said because of one of my friends."

"In a good way or a bad way?"

His question surprised her. He rarely talked about things like this with her, and normally only did so when she was the one who started asking the questions. Their rooftop conversation over a month ago, the first time she'd ever gotten him to drink sake with her, had been the last time they'd spoken of anything personal. She smiled at him. "Both, I suppose. It seemed bad at the time, but after discussing things with him it's not really that bad at all. And it was the push I needed to get Haineko to manifest."

"That's what friends are for." He smiled at her for the second time in a day, that had to be a record, and looked almost wistful for a moment. Then his face was blank again. "Oh, that reminds me. I was talking to Hinamori last night before I left, and she wanted me to ask you to drop by her rooms tonight if you have time. I think she wants some advice."

"I'm always good for that." Rangiku smiled brightly, hoping Momo didn't want advice about relationships. She wasn't sure she could handle that at the moment. The nagging thought that she was in love tried to push its way to the front of her brain.

Even if she was in love, which she wasn't, there was no way that Byakuya would feel the same way about her. And loving him when he didn't love her back would be a disaster.

That was why she didn't love him. She couldn't. She remembered telling Hitsugaya once that she'd never been in love, remembered Haineko telling her she'd kept herself from loving Gin because she knew he could never love her in the same way. And she knew Byakuya couldn't either. She'd just have to be happy with what she had.

This time when she shoved thoughts of love into the corner of her mind, she closed and locked a door after them.

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

Byakuya stared at the papers on his desk without really seeing them. He'd been trying to do paperwork for over an hour, and had mostly given up after having to redo six forms in as many minutes.

He was in love with Matsumoto Rangiku.

It was absolutely insane.

He'd only been in love once, but he certainly knew how it felt. Just being in the same room with her made him happier. Her smile could brighten his day, and her touch could set him on fire. She randomly popped into his thoughts for no reason.

He'd held her as she cried, nearly feeling pain himself at the thought of her hurting. He almost wished Ichimaru wasn't dead, so that he could kill him slowly and painfully.

He cursed the birthright that prevented him from simply being with her and letting everyone know it.

The thought that he could lose her as he'd lost Hisana terrified him.

There was no doubt about the fact that he loved her. But he couldn't love her.

If the family ever found out, they might get rid of her, just as they had Hisana.

But it was more than that.

There was no way she could ever love him. Hisana, and possibly his sister in a way, were the only people who ever had. There wasn't very much lovable about him, after all. Rangiku's comment the other day to the contrary, he didn't really know how to be a friend. He didn't know how to talk to people, not as equals at least. He had servants and subordinates. Even the other taicho, who were in some ways his equals, had never been considered friends. He'd never had a friend before. Except Hisana, and she was so different from Rangiku that there was no way that same things that drew her to him would work in this case.

He just wasn't good at talking to people, and someone like Rangiku would require that in a partner. He was learning to talk to her as a friend, but even that was difficult for him. She had no idea how hard it had been for him that morning to let his feelings show on his face. No one ever saw how he was feeling. Because feelings were a weakness that could and would be used against you.

But he'd managed to trust her enough to allow himself to show her. The fact that they'd been sleeping together for weeks and the rumor mill had no hint of it was one of the things that had made him trust her. No matter how much she liked to gossip, her personal life was one thing she'd never talked about. She'd never confirmed or denied rumors about her and any other man before, even though he knew most of them had been false. She simply didn't comment on rumors if she was part of them, which is why most of them went away quickly. It was no fun to gossip if the person you were doing it about didn't care what you said.

Although he would have to make sure she denied any rumors about the two of them, because if they got back to the family…no, since she'd never denied any before, her doing so now would seem suspicious. Although, he had to reflect honestly, most people wouldn't believe that the two of them were a couple no matter how many rumors they heard. It just didn't seem possible.

"Nii-sama, are you feeling well?" Rukia's concerned voice broke into his thoughts.

He looked up at her quickly. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"I've never seen you have to redo as many forms as you have this morning. And you've been staring at the last one for almost five minutes, but I can tell you're not reading it."

Rukia tilted her head as she studied him. He didn't look ill, but something was off about him.

"I'm just…thinking." Byakuya said finally, speaking to the only person he could about this. He also owed her the warning. "The family…contacted Matsumoto."

"Is she alright?" Rukia asked quickly, easily grasping that the family would not be happy about her.

"She is fine." He replied. "They sent her a letter that seemed to be from me, saying I no longer wished to associate with her. It suffices to say that we had a…discussion about it, but things are alright. I just wanted you to be aware they may go after Abarai as well."

"I warned Renji from the first day that they wouldn't like him, and he knows to keep his eyes open." Rukia replied with a huff, disgusted with the Kuchiki family. Trying to order Byakuya around was one thing, at least he expected it and was used to getting around them, but to actually approach Rangiku-san in such an underhanded way…

"As far as they know, their letter has worked. Rangiku and I will have nothing further to do with each other." Byakuya said after they had worked in silence for a moment. He hadn't been going to mention it to her, but she was the only one who knew and could possibly give them away. Not that she would do it intentionally, but…

Rukia's gaze snapped over to him, her mouth gaping for a second. He'd called her Rangiku. In all the years she had known him, she'd never heard him call a woman other than herself or her sister by her given name. Rangiku-san had to matter to him more than he'd let on. She also understood what he meant by 'as far as they know.'

"Renji and I aren't going to hide." She said quietly, acknowledging that she understood without actually saying it. "They can disapprove all they want, but it's my life."

"You have it somewhat easier than I do." Byakuya replied, glancing over at her, his face expressionless as always. Although his voice did seem slightly warmer than usual. "They might actually object more if you were seeing someone from a noble house, as they would think you were trying to make yourself more acceptable to them as my heir. In fact, marrying a noble of another house _would_ make you more acceptable as the Kuchiki heir. Then at least some of your children's blood would be noble."

Rukia laughed. "Don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen."

"They will object to Abarai on principle, of course, but it will be half-hearted. Although a Kuchiki, even an adopted one, being with a commoner will grate on them, they will be mollified by the fact that it makes you less acceptable as my heir, and they will most likely expect me to see it the same way." Byakuya commented. He might not be good talking to people about personal things, but this was family business as far as he was concerned. At least he could consider it that in a way, which made it easier to discuss. And he'd had a much longer time than she had to know how the family thought. "The fact that they have achieved their main goal, getting me to break off any connection with Rangiku, will be such a victory to them that they won't worry overly much about you and Abarai. I will also try to help if I can."

Rukia's eyes widened in shock. "Nii-sama…"

"You deserve to be happy." He looked away from her, and his voice grew quiet. "I almost allowed you to die once; I not only allowed it but actively tried to stop Kurosaki and Abarai from rescuing you. Although I explained my reasons to you, and you seem to…"

"I do understand." Rukia interrupted quietly.

"Be that as it may, it was a direct result of something caused by the family. Looking back, I do not know if I would change my actions or not. But I do know that something changed that day when I told you why I'd acted as I had. My promise to protect you, my promise to the woman I loved, became more important to me than my duty to the family. I will protect you from them, and help you if I can."

"Nii-sama…" Rukia didn't know what to say. She couldn't even think of where to begin. The day he'd told her why he'd gone along with her execution was the only time he'd even spoken to her like this. The only time he'd even spoken as she imagined an older brother should be. The way Inoue had once spoken of her brother acting. The way she'd seen Ichigo be with his little sisters. Something he'd once said popped into her mind. "Big brothers are born first so they can protect their sisters."

Her whispered statement made him glance back over at her. "What?"

"Sorry, just, just something Ichigo said once." She replied. "Thank you, nii-sama."

Byakuya nodded, and turned back to his paperwork. Apparently having removed his mask once today had made it easier to do so again. That conversation hadn't been nearly as difficult as he'd imagined it would be.

He loved Rukia, he loved his sister, and he would help her if he could.

He loved Rangiku as well, but telling her that would not help her at all. Anyone ever finding out that he loved her could cause her death. And so it was the one thing he could never say. Especially not to her.

* * *

TBC…..

AN2: Hope everyone was as amused by Rangiku's logic in the beginning as I was when I was writing it. It's one of the things that always struck me about the Shinigami; how there are no real couples in the series, how we don't really even hear them talking about love. Now, logically I know that's because this is a shonen series; you're supposed to watch it for the fighting, not expect love scenes. But it also makes a strange kind of sense to me. They're soldiers with unusually long life expectancies. From the impressions we're given at the start of the series, the 13 squads never really used to interact that much (some of the fukutaicho barely seem to know each other, and I remember at least one instance where a fukutaicho didn't even know what taicho another one served under), so the only opportunities for romance would be within your own squad. Which contains people you will have to work with for decades, regardless of your personal feelings for them or if a relationship goes bad. Whereas now, with the squads interacting a lot more, and knowing each other a lot better from all the stresses of the whole long Aizen arc, it makes sense for relationships to begin to form. And most of these people seem to have never had a romantic relationship in the decades and decades they've lived. I commented once in NWM that Toshiro was kinda emotionally stunted, but I think maybe all of them are. Hence Rangiku's, to me at least, very amusing reaction. Byakuya's makes a lot more sense, but then he's been in love before and is much better at using logic to help uncloud his emotions.

Hope you all enjoyed! Reviews are appreciated almost as much as pocky.


	12. One Year Later

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I'm just playing with them for awhile. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: Thanks to all of you for your awesome reviews. I'm so glad this story is back on a roll, and knowing that it's appreciated certainly helps me to write faster. I will never withhold parts until I get a certain number of reviews or crap like that, but it certainly does give me an incentive to write when I know the story is being enjoyed.

Here's the first time jump I warned you about. This chapter is set around one year after the end of the last chapter, and is mostly only here to give you a feel for where things are. It also lets me play with lots more characters, and set up points for some of my later stories. Remember to let me know if there are any characters I'm not working with that you want to see.

The next few (possibly three or four) chapters after this will jump ahead about another year, and should be the end of the story.

***Possible Spoiler Alert for events of the Winter War, both from the manga and the anime, although I tried to be vague on things from the later manga, and some things happened differently in my world. But you have been warned.***

* * *

Behind This Mask

By Lady Callista

Chapter 12: One Year Later

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_I've come this far with friends (nakama) who both competed against and encouraged one another."_

_Hinamori Momo in "Mo Hitotsu no Chijou" from the Bleach musicals_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

She stood upon the air, back to back with her taicho as he asked her if she was alright. She knew what he meant. Could she deal with fighting against Gin? Of course she could.

Chaotic flashes.

Three bitches taunting her. Their monster knocking her out with a single blow. Being unable to breath, and knowing she was going to die. Momo trying to save her, and almost dying in the process. Izuru healing them both as Shuhei tried to defend them. The three fukutaicho who had been betrayed by their taicho, and the fukutaicho who had been betrayed by her lover. Yamamoto-soutaicho stepping in to save them all.

Seeing the other fights going on around her, and the arrival of the Vizard being the only thing that saved the Shinigami from more deaths. She remembered the ring of fire around the three ex-taicho going out, and then it had been true chaos.

Tosen, somehow able to see. Ichimaru, with Shinso lashing out at anyone he set eyes on, minus her. And Aizen with Kyoka Suigetsu in his hand, making it so that no one could even be certain of what they were seeing and who they were fighting.

She'd gone for Gin with a vengeance, but somehow he'd always been a step ahead of her, never attacking her but keeping her away from him. Until she'd masked her reiatsu and hidden behind the huge bulk of Konomura-taicho's released bankai, waiting for her moment.

And then it came. Suddenly he was no more than 30 meters away, and a shunpo left her standing in front of him. His eyes widened, and the strike he had been about to aim at one of her nakama froze. She raised Haineko, and saw his lips move silently. Saw him mouth her name.

And then his body shook as someone struck him, and he spun to face Izuru, but the extra second he stared into her eyes made him too slow, and Wabisuke managed to strike Shinso twice. Shinso dropped under the extra weight, and she saw Wabisuke flash towards Gin's now unprotected neck…

Rangiku woke with a start, screaming the name of a man she hadn't really thought about in months. Had tried not the think about for a year. She brushed hastily at the single tear sliding down her cheek.

Only the fact that she realized she was not in her own bed made her remember that she was not alone. They stole moments whenever they could, but it was rare for them to be able to spend an entire night together. Rare for him to be there when she awoke.

Her hand flew up to cover her mouth, hoping against hope that her cry hadn't woken the man sleeping beside her. For it was not his name she had called.

Her hopes were dashed when his arm slid around her and drew her into his chest, but his voice didn't seem upset. "Good memories or bad ones, Rangiku?"

"Both, I suppose." She whispered as she cuddled into his warmth, grateful that she was not alone. "I've been helping with the planning for the remembrance service tonight, and it dragged up some of the old memories. I'm not the only one either."

"I'm certain you are not." Byakuya replied as he began stroking her hair. "It was a difficult time for many people, and the first anniversary of something negative is always the worst."

"I spent almost an hour this morning convincing Momo that she wasn't a horrible person for remembering how she'd once felt about Aizen." Rangiku admitted quietly. "And in some ways it's easier for her than for me, because she came to terms long ago with the fact that he never cared about her. That everything she thought was between them was a lie. And even knowing that, she still can't forget that she misses who she thought he was. Can't forget that she loved him once, or at least loved who she thought he was."

"Whereas not everything between you and Ichimaru was a lie." Byakuya said calmly. It was not the first time they'd spoken of him, but it never got precisely easy. It was something he'd come to accept though. No one came without emotional baggage, and she dealt admirably with the occasional mention of his first wife. Although he had never gotten around to asking her how well she knew Hisana, to asking if the flowers placed on her grave the previous year had been her doing.

"I loved him differently than she loved Aizen, and I'm not sure which of us got the better deal there. She was in love with an ideal man, a man who didn't really exist, with all her heart." Rangiku sighed, careful as she always was when she used the word love around Byakuya. The tiny part of herself that would allow her to love him was still locked up tightly. In the entire year they'd been together, they'd never said they loved each other. She didn't think they ever would. "I loved a man I knew was flawed, and because I knew that I never gave him my whole heart. Maybe things would have been different if I had." She immediately slapped her hand back over her mouth. She really hadn't meant to say that last part.

Byakuya sighed. Even after a year of being with her, of discussing his feelings and listening to her own, these conversations were still difficult for him. He never showed her his blank face, or blank eyes, anymore. He allowed her to see the feelings on his face, and most of the time that was enough for her. But not always.

"I would say you got the better part of the deal." He said softly. "Whatever his faults, he did love you. He never went out of his way to try and kill you, as Aizen did to Hinamori-fukutaicho. In fact, although I was not there for most of the battle, I have heard that you actually attacked him, and he refused to kill you."

Rangiku flashed back to her earlier dream.

She'd approached him intending to attack, but had not actually done so. She'd hesitated for a second as she saw him mouth her name. And then he'd turned to face Izuru, and her last action had been to scream his name.

To this day, she didn't know if she'd been more upset that she hadn't gotten to kill him herself, or that he was going to die. She didn't know if she'd screamed his name in anger or in fear. But she'd learned to live with that.

"He died because seeing me made him freeze. He loved me too much to kill me." Rangiku admitted in a whisper. "But not enough to not betray me and everything I believed in. Everything he was supposed to believe in too."

They were silent for several moments, till Byakuya asked quietly, "Do you want to try to sleep some more? It was nice waking up with you beside me."

Rangiku glanced to the window, judging how much of the sun was up. "It was _very_ nice, but no, I should go. Your family understood you sleeping in the Rokubantai barracks last night, being close to your men on this anniversary, but everything will be ruined if someone sees me leaving."

Byakuya felt a moment of regret that they had to sneak around like they did, but there was no other option. They'd long since resigned themselves to that.

He leaned over to kiss her gently. "I'll see you tonight at the ceremony."

Rangiku lingered on the kiss, then stood up and smiled sadly. "I'll see you there, Kuchiki-taicho."

She got as far as the door before she turned back to him, saying quietly, "Thank you for listening, Byakuya. For understanding."

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"It's been one year since we defeated Aizen and his associates." Yamamoto-soutaicho said from the front of the room, sake cup held up in tribute. "We're here tonight to remember those who died to defeat them, and those who suffered because of them. We're also here to celebrate all of you, all of us who defeated him. Kanpai!"

Rangiku tapped her glass with Momo's, who stood on one side of her, then turned to Orihime and tapped the girl's glass with a smile as all of them echoed the toast.

She saw Orihime take a deep breath before she drank the sake, and almost chuckled as the girl's eyes began to water and she quickly set the glass down on a nearby table.

She was to young to drink of course, all four of the humans who had come to Seireitei for the night were, but no one had objected when each of them picked up a glass for the toast.

They had as much right to it, if not more, than anyone here. Without Ichigo killing Aizen, none of them would be here. Hell, if you went back enough, without the four humans invading Seireitei to save Rukia and disrupt Aizen's initial plan, it was likely none of them would be here now.

The toast complete, everyone broke into smaller groups, just talking and relaxing. Despite the fact that they were calling this a remembrance ceremony, it really was just more of a gathering. It was more a time to celebrate that they were all still alive, that they had been victorious, than it was to remember sadly those who had been lost. They were soldiers in a way, death was part of their job. They'd had a year to mourn and remember those who were lost. A year to recover from it.

Yes, Rangiku smiled as she drew Orihime over to one side of the room, this was a night to celebrate and relax. "So I saw you holding hands with Ichigo when you first got here."

Orihime blushed slightly, yet smiled. "It's so odd to think that I haven't seen you in almost a year. We got so used to so many of you being around, to talking to you all the time. Since Ichigo always tells me about what's going on up here I forget sometimes that you don't know anything about what's going on with us."

Rangiku smiled, noting that Orihime had used Ichigo's given name, something she'd never heard her do before. "But I take it you finally told him how you feel."

Orihime nodded. "What you said to me that last night I saw you really helped. It took me a while to find the courage, but… What about the guy you were talking about? Ichigo hasn't mentioned you being with anyone."

Rangiku smiled, managing to catch Byakuya's eyes from across the room, although she glanced away after only a moment. It always bothered her slightly to see him with his mask in place. Although she did see the slight warming of his eyes as they locked with hers before moving away. "Oh, things didn't work out quite how I imagined. But I'm happy enough."

Orihime looked about the comment on that when another person joined them.

"Inoue-san, it's been a while." Hitsugaya said politely, nodding to Rangiku as well.

"Hitsugaya-taicho, good evening." Orihime replied, smiling at him. He seemed to be almost an inch taller than the last time she'd seen him. Her cheeks turned slightly red again, but not in embarrassment for herself. The last time she'd seen him had been about eight months ago, when her and Ichigo had been walking through the park. She'd seen Hitsugaya with Ichigo's sister Karin, standing in the shadows of a tree and kissing softly. She'd tripped on a rock, purposely, alerting both of them to her presence and at the same time drawing Ichigo's attention to her as he made certain she was alright. Karin had thanked her the next day, and they had never mentioned it again.

"I was hoping I could speak with you for a moment." Hitsugaya said with a slightly raised eyebrow, knowing she would understand. "I was hoping you could do me a favor."

"Of course." She smiled gently. "Excuse me, Rangiku-san."

Rangiku watched as her friend and her taicho moved away, going to a corner of the room where they wouldn't be overheard. She smirked, knowing exactly what that conversation was going to be about. Or rather, knowing who it was going to be about.

Another relationship that could not be acknowledged in public.

With an inward sigh that never came close to showing on her happy face, Rangiku crossed the room intent on the table holding the sake. And ran into Shunsui on her way there. He tossed an arm companionably around her shoulders as they finished crossing the room.

"Haven't been out drinking with you for a while, Ran-chan. How've you been?"

"Oh, not too bad." Rangiku smiled as she poured for both of them. "And how are things going with you?"

At that moment Nanao stepped up to the table beside Rangiku, leaning in a little bit to see her taicho around her friend. "Remember, taicho. Not too much sake tonight. You still have plans when this party is over."

Rangiku burst out laughing as Nanao calmly adjusted her glasses before walking away, then looked back at Shunsui to find that he was smiling, his eyes on his departing fukutaicho.

"Oh, things are going pretty well with me." He smirked as he turned back to her, causing her to laugh again. "Pretty well."

Kuchiki-taicho couldn't help but turn to face the sake table as he heard her surprised laughter burst out. She always looked so happy when she was out with her friends. There was just a little…something…that was never present when she was with him. But he'd been trying to figure out for months what exactly that something was. It wasn't that she wasn't happy when she was with him, but…

His attention turned from her to two figures just walking in from the balcony beside where he stood alone, simply observing people.

"I'm alright, Renji-san." Hinamori-fukutaicho was saying as she walked in, trying to shed the concerned hand her boyfriend's taicho had on her arm. "I just wanted some fresh air, I wasn't moping."

"Izuru mentioned you've been upset the past few days, Momo." Abarai-taicho said as they passed him. "We just want to make sure you're okay. This day is harder on you than on most of us."

"I've told Izuru and now I'll tell you, I'm fine. Rangiku gave me some advice yesterday, and it really helped. She told me that the most important thing was to not shut Izuru out, to let him support me through this. I just wish she had someone to support her. Sometimes, it seems like she's so lonely…"

They passed out of Kuchiki-taicho's hearing range then, and he turned to go out on the balcony they had just exited, looking out into the night.

Rangiku always managed to help others, he reflected, to give them advice that would solve their problems and make them happy. But there was no solution to her own problem. There was no way for the two of them to live happily ever after.

"Still as antisocial as ever, I see." Yoruichi teased as she stepped up beside him.

"And you are still as intrusive as ever." Byakuya replied, not turning to face her.

"Want to play a game of tag for old time's sake?" Yoruichi smirked at him, reaching out towards him as if to snatch his hairpiece.

Byakuya's hand snapped up to catch hers without him even turning to face her. "I think not, Yoruichi-sama. I am surprised to see you here, although not surprised you still wish to play childish games."

"What's the point of living if you don't enjoy life?" Yoruichi quipped as she tossed back a shot of sake. "Although I think the main reason Yamamoto wants me here is because he wants to try to sell me on being a taicho again. Imagine it, seeing me again every day. Maybe I could finally break you out of that shell of yours, Byakuya-boyo."

Byakuya did turn to face her then, and she saw a flash of the child she'd known in the temper that came into his eyes. "I am quite happy with who I am, thank you."

He spun on his heel and left her alone on the balcony. She heard murmured apologies as he apparently almost bumped into someone on the way out, and smiled when Rangiku and Rukia stepped out onto the balcony a second later.

"Boy, some woman is going to have her hands full with that man someday." Yoruichi commented as she watched Byakuya stride through the crowd, always assuming everyone would move out of the way for him, and always being correct.

Her eyes snapped to the two women who had just entered the balcony as one let out a forced sounding laugh and the other started to choke on nothing but air.

"You spend too much time with Ichigo, you're starting to pick up his habits." Yoruichi said lightly to the shorter woman, then turned her attention to the taller one. The one who had forced a laugh. "Now, is there something you girls haven't told Yoruichi-neesan about?"

* * *

TBC…..

AN2: I'm purposely vague about some of the memories of things that happened during the Winter War. If it hasn't been in the anime yet, (266 as I write this) I don't want to ruin too much for anyone, as I know not everyone reads the manga online. Also, although I have read the manga, it wasn't as far along as it is now when I first started my After The Winter War series, so some things that happened in the manga did not happen in my world, or at least happened somewhat differently. The whole thing with Rangiku and Gin, for example, did not happen in the manga, but did in my world. I just love wringing every last ounce of angst out of my characters.

Oh, and the Yoruichi-neesan comment means "older sister." It can be used for one's own sibling, obviously, but it also used by children towards a young woman as an affectionate form of address. It's Yoruichi's way of reminding them that she's older than them and more experienced. (This will also make more sense once my "Girl Talk" story gets published, cause the three of them don't actually have much cannon interaction, but in my series they've become friends.)


	13. Chrysanthemums, reprise

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I'm just playing with them for awhile. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: I'm glad so many of you enjoyed the last part, it was fun to back off from ByaRan for a little bit and just play with some of the other characters in the Bleach world. As I said, most of the characters featured in the previous part will eventually be getting their own stories, or already have, and I hope you enjoy them as much as you have this one. I'm going to enjoy playing with some of those other characters again in this chapter. This one takes place a few weeks after the last chapter, which will be established in-story for those of you who skip over the AN to get to their crack, and then after this we'll be jumping another year into the future. Enjoy!

* * *

Behind This Mask

By Lady Callista

Chapter 13: Chrysanthemums, reprise

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_Here's where it makes the most sense. You need it so you don't forget. Forget that there are places in the world that aren't made out of stone. That there's a - there's a - there's something inside that's yours, that they can't touch." _

_Andy in "The Shawshank Redemption"_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"It's kinda funny." Rangiku whispered as she blew out the incense stick, allowing the fragrant jasmine smoke to waft over the chrysanthemums she'd already arranged in the vase on the shrine. "I've never been nervous about coming to talk to you before."

The wind picked up briefly, blowing one of the flower petals across Rangiku's cheek, and she laughed out loud.

"I'd take that as a sign from god, only, well, Shinigami are gods." She chuckled. "I guess it just feels weird, since last year I was joking with you about dating Byakuya, and well, now I am. I like to think you'd be happy for him. For us. I know if I died, I'd want him to be happy with someone else. At least I tell myself that. I just can't imagine dying, I guess, not if it means leaving him."

Rangiku took a deep breath. "For most of my life, I couldn't imagine living without a man. I know that I can now; I can live only for myself. But I don't want to. I guess I just wanted to tell you that I'm happy. And, and I think he is too. And…I hope you're happy for us. Goodbye, Kuchiki Hisana."

Rangiku rose quietly, reading the tombstone one final time before winding her way back to the main road through the graveyard. As she exited the gate and turned to head towards the Juubantai, she was surprised out of her thoughts by a voice behind her.

"Good morning, Rangiku."

Rangiku turned to find Yoruichi leaning against the wall next to the gate. "Morning, Yoruichi. I didn't realize you were still in Seireitei, I assumed you'd left after the remembrance ceremony."

"I did, but I came back a few days ago." Yoruichi replied. She'd finally managed to digest all the things Rangiku and Rukia had told her weeks ago at that ceremony. Saying it had been a shock was an understatement. "Yamamoto is still trying to sweet talk me into taking one of the two divisions that doesn't have a taicho. He seems convinced I'll agree eventually, and he wants Kisuke for whichever division I don't pick."

Rangiku chuckled as she faced her friend, "I'm almost glad I don't have bankai yet, or he'd be trying to force me to take one of them. I still don't know how Ikkaku is managing to not be forcibly promoted."

"Don't want your own division, Ran-chan?" Yoruichi smirked as she folded her arms under her chest, still leaning against the wall.

"No way in hell." Rangiku said in a sing-song tone. "I've noticed _you're_ avoiding becoming a taicho again. I've heard you were great, and I'm sure I could do it, but I don't _want_ to. I'm perfectly happy where I am."

"Almost." There was too much knowledge in Yoruichi's eyes.

"Sure, I wish I didn't have to hide my relationship with…Bya…Kuchiki-taicho." Rangiku turned bright red as she saw him walk up out of the corner of her eye, and actually turned and gave him an oddly stilted bow.

"Good morning, Byakuya." Yoruichi said cheekily.

"I will not evade the point, and will tell you that I heard all of Rangiku's last comment." Kuchiki-taicho said blandly. "How long have you known?"

Yoruichi studied him for a moment and said with equal frankness, "Only a few weeks, and she tried to deny it when I guessed it. But I've always been able to tell when people are lying to me, especially if they're _my friends_."

"I assume you understand why it is not public knowledge?" Kuchiki-taicho said, a slight tick next to his eye the only sign that he understood Yoruichi's slight threat. She did not name someone a friend lightly, and it was known she would go to the wall for anyone she did.

"Do you forget my family name, that you must ask if I understand?" Yoruichi's cheeky tone returned, and she said under her breath to Rangiku, "There's more than one reason I don't want to return to Seireitei."

Byakuya nodded his head to her, and his voice actually warmed slightly. "It may be long since I have truly spoken with you, but trust that I have never forgotten anything about you."

Yoruichi's eyes flashed with surprise at the comment that could almost be taken as flirting, and she replied in a light tone, "I _have_ been told I am unforgettable."

Rangiku laughed out loud; this wouldn't have been nearly as amusing if Yoruichi hadn't told some tales of herself and a teen-aged Byakuya to her a few weeks ago.

His gaze flicked to Rangiku for an instant, and to the gate to the graveyard behind her. "And what are you two doing here this early in the morning?"

Yoruichi shrugged. "I just wanted to talk to Ran-chan before leaving for Earth again, and I tracked her down. I don't know why we're here."

Rangiku tried to imitate the casual shrug. "I was just visiting someone I was friends with."

Byakuya's eyebrows rose, then lowered as he said quietly, "She always loved getting flowers, and giving them to others. Thank you." Although he knew Yoruichi had heard him speak, he raised his voice to make it seem like he was only now including her, "Good day, ladies." And he swept past them into the cemetery.

Rangiku, brain still muddled from the spark of _something _in his eyes when he'd thanked her, tried to remember where she was. "So, um…."

Yoruichi chuckled. "It's alright, take a moment." She quipped as she laid a hand on the other woman's shoulder. Even only seeing the look that had passed between them as a bystander had made a slight shiver run through her. Yet her curiosity at Byakuya's comment made her impatient enough to add, "Who _were _you visiting?"

Eyes finally focused on the here and now, Rangiku muttered, "Um…his wife."

"His…." Yoruichi trailed off as her brain kicked into overdrive. "That's right, I heard he had married, and that his wife had died very young."

"Today is the anniversary of her death." Rangiku whispered. "I was one of the Shinigami woman that got invited up for tea, or lunch sometimes. She was so nice. And I loved that she was different from the other nobles, different in the way I now know you are. You don't think you're better than us…I mean…."

"I know what you mean." Yoruichi smirked again.

"Last year, I was out walking and thinking, and randomly ending up picking up flowers and coming to talk with Hisana-sama on this very day. She was the person whose quite example let me realize I could be a Shinigami, even a fukutaicho, without losing who I was." Rangiku glanced towards the gate Byakuya had vanished through, "I have no idea if he knows I knew her, and I'm not sure how he'll feel about me having come here…"

Yoruichi's face took on a serious look for a moment. "He thanked you, didn't he?"

Rangiku smiled slightly. "He did, didn't he?"

Yoruichi allowed the other woman a few seconds of thought, then broke the silence, "Do you want to go get something to eat? Talk to Yoruichi-neesan a little more?"

"I would enjoy that, but I'd supposed to meet my taicho in a few minutes for some sparing practice." Rangiku replied. She'd long since passed the point where she needed someone else in order to have the ambition to train, but she still enjoyed training with others. Although she'd been training exclusively on her own for bankai, she didn't want to concentrate on that so much that she forgot what it was like to face an actual opponent.

"So how comes the bankai work?"

Rangiku sighed as she turned and began walking towards the Juubantai. "I can make Haineko manifest whenever I want, but I'm no closer to making her submit than I was a year ago."

Yoruichi gave a grunt as she fell into step beside her friend. "Please tell me you aren't just trying to beat her with brute strength."

Rangiku's even steps faltered. "That's how you do it…"

Yoruichi let out a rolling laugh. "Have you ever talked to a woman about how to achieve bankai?"

Rangiku blinked at her. "Well, only SoiFon-taicho and Unohana-taicho have it, I mean…"

"And I can't see you getting along with either of them, fair enough." Yoruichi grinned. "But there's one more person you can ask."

Rangiku shrugged. "Nothing else in how our powers as Shinigami work is different for men versus women, why should I have thought this would be?'

"Because men and women _are_ different. Men's flaws generally involve pride, ego, and overestimation of strength." Yoruichi said with a grin. "Men must make their zanpakuto submit to them _physically_ because they see that strength as being the only thing making them worthy of being the master. Women tend to have a somewhat…different interpretation of strength."

This time Rangiku stopped walking entirely. "Are you saying I don't need to beat Haineko physically?"

Yoruichi shrugged. "I can't say for sure. You're a lot like me; you've got mostly male friends and have enough of a male mindset that I can't say for sure if your zanpakuto relates to you more like a male's does or is more like a traditional woman's one. But have you tried working out the issues she's brought up? Have you considered that what she tells you it not just soul-therapy, but could be the key to becoming her true master?"

Rangiku shrugged yet again. "No, I guess I haven't. Cause honestly I think I'll be able to beat her physically before I'm able to do, emotionally, what she told me I need to do."

Yoruichi laughed again, although this time it was in commiseration. "I understand how that feels."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"I like to think you'd be happy for me." Byakuya whispered as he set the pink roses he carried into the vase next to Rangiku's chrysanthemums. Sakura had been her favorite flower even before he met her, and the fact that his zanpakuto manifested as pink petals had made her love them even more. She'd never cared what kind of flowers he gave her, as long as they were pink. "I like to think I'd be happy for you, were our positions reversed."

Byakuya sat quietly for a moment, then said, "It took a while for the feeling that I was betraying you to go away. But everyone always says that…that if someone loves you enough, they just want you to be happy. I am. Happy, that is. Mostly."

He watched as a puff of wind swirled the smoke from the incense Rangiku had left, then said softly, "She's good for me. In a different way than you were, but still good for me. I think you both came to me at a point in my life where I needed what you could share with me. You taught me that there were more important things than what my family wanted, you taught me that I could be more than Kuchiki pride. Yet you taught me the gentle things, the softer emotions. Rangiku has reawakened those, of course, but it's different. I think the reason I never looked at a woman after you was I was comparing them to you, and as almost all the women I know are Shinigami, it was impossible to find one as quite and introverted as you were. It surprised me in so many ways when I fell in love with Rangiku. She's almost the complete opposite of you in so many ways, and yet, somehow, we get along so well. I have managed to find yet another person that the family hates, or at least, they would if they knew. But I'm not doing it to annoy them. It is somewhat liberating to realize I don't have the heart made of stone that all of them seem to, however…"

A sudden feeling of being watched made him cast a quick look over his shoulder, and he was surprised to find Ise Nanao-fukutaicho standing there, a small bouquet of birds of paradise clutched in her hands.

"Kuchiki-taicho, I'm sorry to interrupt you." She said with a formal bow.

"It is alright, Ise-fukutaicho." Kuchiki-taicho replied as he rose from kneeling in front of the grave. "I was not aware you were friends with my wife."

"She…she was nice." Nanao said softly. "She invited half-a-dozen of us girls up for tea, or lunch, sometimes, and it was really…nice."

Kuchiki-taicho studied her eyes for a moment, noticing a level of discomfort she'd never shown around him before. It could be simply because of where they were, however…

"I knew she was trying to make friends with some of you." He looked purposely at the shrine, and at the chrysanthemums. "Those were left by Matsumoto-fukataicho."

"She…I…uhh…"

The flash he'd seen in her eyes was all he needed. "So you know as well."

"Know what, Kuchiki-taicho?" Nanao asked. No one unaccustomed to hiding under their own mask would have noticed the one she donned.

"I surmised that eventually she would be unable to keep this from her friends." Kuchiki sighed, resigned. He was actually surprised she'd made it for a whole year without her friends finding out. She was simply too used to being open and honest with them. "I assume you know not to let anyone else know?"

"Know what, Kuchiki-taicho?" Nanao's voice was perfectly innocent, but a lilt in her voice gave away the fact that she understood perfectly.

Byakuya nodded his head graciously to her, and began to move past her to leave. He stopped in his tracks as her voice came quietly.

"Ran-chan won't be happy with hiding this forever."

Byakuya replied just as quietly, "I know, but it is all I can offer." He was careful not to let her see his face as he swept from the cemetery. For he couldn't quite manage to raise his mask.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

"I wondered if you would come tonight." Rangiku said with a small smile as she admitted Byakuya to her apartments through the porch door. "I'm sorry about Yoruichi…"

"I've always known your closest friends would find out some day." Byakuya replied as they moved to her couch. He'd been slightly surprised the first time he was in her apartments and discovered that she had a lot of non-traditional furniture, but he had to admit that the couch was very comfortable. "You're someone who enjoys your friends, Ran-chan."

The tenderness with a slight touch of wonder in his voice as he used that endearment for the first time made any reply she might have thought of fly from her mind.

"You're used to talking to them about everything, and it's hurt you to not be able to tell them. To share this with them. I do understand that, and I'm amazed by how strong you are." Byakuya said quietly as they cuddled together on the couch, her head resting in her favored spot, right over his heart.

"Right after you walked off on Yoruichi at the remembrance ceremony, you bumped into Rukia and I as we were going out onto the balcony. Our reaction to something Yoruichi said led her to guess that there was something between you and I, and you're right, I…I do want to talk about it with my friends. I want to brag about how amazing you are, and…"

Byakuya cut her off with a gentle kiss, trying to express everything he couldn't put into words. "I really do understand. I don't know if you've told anyone other than Yoruichi and Ise-fukutaicho, but if you trust them enough to tell them I will trust that my family will not learn of this through them."

"Ise…Nanao…what? How did you know that she…" Rangiku cut herself off with a curse. It wasn't her fault that both Nanao and Momo had walked in on her and Rukia explaining to Yoruichi what was going on.

"I, at least, have my sister to talk to." Byakuya sidestepped as he began running his fingers through her hair soothingly. A small part of him was still amazed that he was allowed to touch her like this. "You have had no one, and although it is necessary I still find myself wanting to apologize for that."

Rangiku tilted her head up enough to meet his eyes. There were emotions swirling in their depths that she couldn't even begin to interpret. "I know why it has to be this way, I really do, it's just, sometimes…"

Byakuya leaned down to kiss her again, and this time there was more heat and promise in the kiss. "We kiss in the shadow, we hide from the moon. Our meeting are few, and over too soon."

Rangiku tilted her head curiously, part of her melting as her lover recited what seemed to be some poem to her, and some part of her worried that he sounded so melancholy.

"We speak in a whisper, afraid to be heard. When people are near, we speak not a word."

"That's beautiful. Beautiful, but so sad." Rangiku managed to whisper when he paused. "I've never heard that poem before."

"It's not a poem, but a song that several Shinigami heard while on Earth years ago." Byakuya admitted. And he did what he hadn't done in front of another person in over 40 years. He fit the next words he remembered to the melody that had begun playing through his head, and sang quietly, "Alone in our secret, together we sigh, for one shining day to be free. To kiss in the sunlight, and say to the sky, behold and believe what you see, behold how……"

Rangiku's head twitched to the side curiously as he suddenly cut off. His eyes had briefly reflected panic, and were now closer to blank than he'd shown her in private in half a year.

"My apologies, I seem to have forgotten how it ends." Byakuya said, his voice also closer to neutral than she normally heard it in private.

"That's alright." Rangiku pushed away her curiosity and made herself smile. "It was so sad I'm afraid to hear how it ends."

"My time is our time for the next three hours." Byakuya replied, feeling the inadequacy of that offer more strongly than he would have before talking to Ise-fukutaicho, or than before hearing her friends at the party talking about how she seemed lonely.

Rangiku leaned up to kiss him softly, her experienced hands sliding up into his hair and unclipping his Kenseikan. It had become somewhat of a tradition for her to remove it when they were spending time alone. Removing a symbol of who he was, of why they couldn't publicly acknowledge their relationship, always made her smile a little.

Byakuya slid away from her enough to unwrap his scarf and shed his taicho haori as well. "And how would you like to spend our time?"

Rangiku smiled, and this time it was much closer to a real smile. "Well, we know I'll never beat you at chess, but you did promise to teach me how to play Go better. I finally bought a board so you didn't have to keep bringing yours."

Byakuya returned her smile. In the first few months of them being together, every spare moment had been spent satisfying their carnal desires. The next few months had been a mix of enjoyable sex with slightly awkward conversation. It was only fairly recently that more and more of their stolen time together had revolved around just talking and being together than anything else. They'd learned they had a surprising amount of similar interests. Not that they still didn't enjoy…

"Byakuya?"

"A game of Go would be enjoyable." Byakuya replied, kissing her passionately before she could rise to retrieve the board and stones. "Although I will say only one game, no matter who wins. For I have a desire to do more than kiss you tonight."

Rangiku felt her heart flutter, but kept her face light as she kissed him playfully a moment longer before turning to get the game board. "Perhaps we _should_ play chess instead. I've heard of this wonderful variation they play on Earth where you either lose an article of clothing or kiss the other player in certain places, depending on the point value of the piece you lose."

"That sounds like an intriguing game." Byakuya replied with a real smile. "But didn't you just say that you had no chance of beating me at chess?"

Rangiku smirked as she set the board on the table and began setting up the pieces. "I'm hoping I lose enough pieces early on that you get too distracted to play as well as you normally do."

TBC…..

AN2: So I'm very curious about reader's opinions of my take on male and female bankai being different. There is no cannon basis for it at all, but all we really know about bankai training is Ichigo's, which was not at all standard, and the little bit we hear mentioned of Renji's. I see no reason why they couldn't be different, given my reasoning…

Oh, and the song Bya is quoting is called "We Kiss in a Shadow," and is from the musical "The King and I." The reason Bya cut off his recitation was that the line ends… "behold and believe what you see. Behold how my lover loves me." Sorry if it seems a little cheesy for him, but I love cool quotes, and I love musicals, and I can just see Byakuya as a nobleman, being fond of poetry and music.


	14. When Dreams Shatter

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I'm just playing with them for awhile. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: We're getting close to the end now. Another time jump has occurred, and we're now two years into the future from where the story started, and one year after the previous two parts. (Oh, and those of you who have read No Warm Memories will recognize the opening scene of this chapter, but it was necessary to include it for those who have not read it before.)

With that in mind, I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on what story I should do next. The two main contenders in my mind are Ichigo/Orihime and Renji/Rukia. I can easily do either story next, and was wondering if people had a preference. A complete list of the stories I'm going to write is also on my profile, so if you prefer a story other than one of those let me know. Comments on this can be left in reviews for this story, or just drop me a PM.

* * *

Behind This Mask

By Lady Callista

Chapter 14: When Dreams Shatter

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_And still I dreamed he'd come to me, that we would live the years together. But there are dreams that cannot be, and there are storms we cannot weather."_

"_I Dreamed a Dream" from the Les Miserables musical_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"It's still hard to believe that it's been two years since…" Rangiku let her comment trail off as she noticed a Jigokucho flying towards the center of the room. A moment later the voice of Kotetsu Kiyone filled the suddenly silent room.

"Urgent notice to all members of the Gotei Juusantai, multiple Gillain and at least two Adjuchas have been reported in Karakura Town, Japan. Divisions Four, Eleven, and Thirteen are ordered to report to their barracks and await their assignments. As all taicho and fukutaicho are currently together, expect these assignments to come very quickly. Again, multiple Gillian and…"

The room was suddenly in chaos. Rangiku noticed Ichigo fly in, and a moment later the humans vanished through a hurriedly opened gate.

"Order, order!" Yamamoto-soutaicho called out, "Now, as there are Adjuchas, I will need at least one taicho and fukutaicho…"

"I'm going."

Rangiku was unsurprised to hear the voice of her taicho, and her eyes caught Rukia's as they both called out, "We're going."

"You are no longer Juusanbantai." Kuchiki-taicho spoke to his sister. "The human world is no longer your concern."

Rukia glared at him. "Well then, Kuchiki-taicho…demote me."

Rangiku was already following her taicho towards the Senkaimon that had opened in the corner of the room. She spun around to face Byakuya as Rukia joined her in front of the gate. "I'll bring her home."

"Bring yourself home as well." He mouthed, and she saw heat flash through his eyes for a moment.

Rangiku smirked at him, nodded with a sassy twist of her head, then turned and ran through the gate, unsurprised when Renji fell in a step behind her.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

It was nearly midnight by the time Rangiku arrived back in Seireitei the second time. She'd been back briefly nearly an hour before, but then Hitsugaya had sent her back to Earth to let Ichigo and his family know that Karin had arrived safely in Soul Society, and that her memory was intact.

At least someone got a happy ending, got to openly be with the person they loved.

Her feet froze and her breath whooshed out. She almost heard the door she'd locked two years ago sliding open.

She was in love with Byakuya.

This wasn't really a revelation, she'd known for a few months less than two years that she could fall in love with him. She had mostly done so.

But she'd realized something as she was holding her crying taicho a few hours ago. As he cried over the death of the girl he loved, she'd realized that she would cry over Byakuya just as much.

She'd once thought that because she was afraid of being in love with him that she couldn't be. Because love was supposed to make you feel happy. But love could make you hurt too.

She'd also thought she couldn't be in love with him because she didn't want to be, because she knew it would be a disaster.

But over the past two years she'd realized that love wasn't like a new kimono. You couldn't try it on to see how it looked, and then discard it. You couldn't even just look at it on a mannequin and admire it, and then walk away. You didn't have a choice once you saw it.

Once you started to fall in love with someone, there was no going back.

Hitsugaya certainly hadn't chosen an easy relationship, but then again maybe he'd had as little choice in the matter as she had. You couldn't always choose who you fell in love with.

But after two years, she could admit to herself if no one else, she was growing tired of hiding. Especially since no one else was anymore. Almost all of her friends had paired off, and everyone was so happy for them. They all fit so well with the people they'd fallen in love with.

In some ways her and Byakuya didn't fit at all, though maybe some people would say that they were a clear case of opposites attract. Yet beneath the faces they showed the world they were more similar than anyone knew.

"Rangiku." A soft voice cut into her thoughts, and she noticed Byakuya standing in the shadow of a tree, right outside the Juubantai barracks she had been heading towards.

She looked around reflexively to make sure no one would see them talking, but the streets were empty and there were no lights on in the barracks. She headed over to him.

"Everything turned out alright?" Byakuya asked as she moved to stand beside him.

"Well, Ichigo's little sister Karin died, and it turns out that Hitsugaya has been dating her these past two years, so he brought her to Seireitei with all her memories intact, and at the moment they're probably cuddled up on his couch, rejoicing in the fact that they no longer have to hide their relationship." Rangiku summed up, adding the last in as close to a teasing tone as she could manage. Somehow it came out more sarcastic than anything else.

He reached out and brushed his hand over her cheek. "It was your idea to hide our relationship in the first place."

Rangiku sighed. "I know. I thought I would be okay with it, and I was for a long time. It was kinda fun sneaking around behind everyone's backs. But I wish I could walk down the street holding your hand. I wish I could talk to you without having to check and make sure nobody's around."

"Rangiku…" Byakuya whispered.

"And it…" Rangiku almost hadn't interrupted him, but now that she had started she couldn't seem to stop the words. "It was so nice waking up with you this morning. So nice to have fallen asleep with your arms around me."

He was silent for so long that she ran her fingers lightly over his cheek. "Byakuya?"

The mask that had started to rise again dropped suddenly, and she could see the emotions raging on his face. "Rangiku, come back to the mansion with me. Fall asleep in my arms."

Rangiku gasped, not understanding what he meant. "But if anyone sees me…"

"Let them see." Byakuya whispered as he leaned down to kiss her. "I don't know what the family will do, but I grow tired of this deception as well." His lips covered hers, a brief but warm kiss, and then he took her hand in his and tugged on it gently. "Come."

Not questioning the miracle that had just occurred, Rangiku grasped his hand tightly and walked beside him down the silent street.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

The next morning, a still mostly asleep Rangiku rolled over to cuddle into her lover, and encountered only empty blankets. Her eyes popped open, and it took her a second to remember that she was in the Kuchiki mansion.

Byakuya had walked hand in hand with her into the mansion, ignored the stares of guards and servants alike, taken her into his bedroom and locked the door behind them.

She rolled to her knees beside the futon, stretching her arms over her head as she glanced around the room. There was a yukata lying at the foot of the bed, and she slid it on with a yawn as she stood to wander around the room. It was Spartan, yet the simplicity of it drew her gaze to a single picture on the wall, a tranquil painting that made her think of Byakuya's meditation garden. As she approached the wall to get a better look at it, she heard voices coming from the room obviously next to this one.

Barely taking a second to debate the ethics of eavesdropping, she put her ear to the wall.

"Do you think I would dishonor myself by keeping Matsumoto as a lover? A mistress? You're wrong." Byakuya's voice held no emotion at all.

Rangiku stepped back from the wall rapidly as she heard the door open, and she managed to keep her face blank as a maid came in with a tray containing breakfast for two. Another was right on the first one's heels with a beautiful, and from the look of it antique, tea service.

"Where shall we set this up, Matsumoto-sama?" The first maid asked, her eyes on the ground in front of her.

"Um…just on the bedside table is fine." Rangiku said quickly, wanting them gone so she could continue to eavesdrop on the next room. She was surprised to see them at all, the one time she'd eaten here with Byakuya he had made it seem like he always had breakfast in the dining room, and considering they knew the family wouldn't be happy with the obvious conclusion that they were lovers she hadn't excepted to have breakfast delivered as if she was an honored guest.

The maids set up the trays quickly, and when they asked if they could do anything else for her she shook her head, grateful when they didn't insist on staying. She leaned back into the wall as soon as they left, and wished she hadn't.

"Don't you dare compare her to Hisana." Kuchiki's voice was flat, and to her it sounded angry. "The two of them are nothing alike. Hisana was quiet and gentle, the perfect wife."

Rangiku leaned away from the wall again, unable to stop the tears from pooling in her eyes. She crossed to the bed and sat down heavily, staring at the breakfast that should have been a celebration of the fact that they weren't hiding their relationship anymore. Instead it seemed now to be a last meal before they were no longer together.

It made his seemingly abrupt decision to take her home with him and stop hiding their relationship make perfect sense.

It was certainly an easy way for him to stop seeing her, she realized sadly. Take her home, have the family order him to stop seeing her, let them think they were the ones convincing him that she could never be the wife Hisana had been, and then let her go her merry way.

She had been able to tell for the past few months that he was growing more and more dissatisfied with their relationship, but after last night she'd told herself that he had simply becomes as tired of hiding it as she was.

The fear she had squashed, that he was merely growing tired of _her_, now roared up full force.

Quickly wiping the tears from her eyes as she heard the door to the other room slam open and then shut again, Rangiku leaned back on the bed, her eyes on the door.

Kuchiki-sama entered quietly, although his eyes immediately went from her to the tea set by the bed, and she thought she saw both fear and rage in his eyes before his face returned to its perfect mask. The one he hadn't worn around her in nearly two years.

"Unfortunately we do not have time for breakfast. I have many things I need to attend to this morning." He said in lieu of greeting her.

Rangiku rose to face him, putting a seductive smile on her face. "Surely we have time for something." She said as she got closer to him, sliding her hands up his chest.

He captured her hands in his own and stepped away.

Rangiku sighed, looking away from him because she knew she couldn't keep the pain and sadness off her face. "When should I return? I was thinking we could have dinner…"

"I will be very busy for the next several weeks." His voice was still quiet.

"Weeks?" Rangiku spun to face him, her face back under control. If she hadn't heard what went on in the other room, she would have been confused by his suddenly pushing her away, but she understood it completely.

His family had decided she was not suitable, which wasn't a surprise to her. They had both known that would happen, it was why they'd hidden for so long. The fact that he had said she didn't compare to his first wife _had _surprised her. She knew she was very different from Hisana, but it had seemed like he liked her for who she was. Apparently not. Or maybe he had in the beginning, but had just grown tired of her. "So what you're saying is its been fun, but don't bother coming back."

"Be reasonable, Matsumoto." Kuchiki-sama said with a blank face. "Surely you can agree that this has run it's course."

"It has?" Rangiku asked in a dangerously quiet voice.

"Come now." His voice was as expressionless as everything else about him. "Surely you did not expect this to last? I told you that _my family wished _me to remarry someone they felt worthy of me. You knew we were merely enjoying ourselves."

"I knew no such thing." Rangiku's own mask was back in place, showing nothing but slight amusement. She was so emotional that she failed to notice how he stressed a few words of what he said. "But I suppose that your opinion is the one that matters, isn't it Kuchiki-sama? But will you allow me to say one thing?"

Kuchiki-sama raised an eyebrow.

Rangiku glanced towards the wall, knowing his advisors might be eavesdropping on them as she had been doing a moment ago, then stepped a little closer to him and lowered her voice for his ears only. "It's true you never promised me anything, but I never pushed for it either. As much as I came to dislike having to hide our relationship, I understood the reasons. Until last night, I never asked you to make the relationship public, and I've never asked for marriage or anything like that. I understand that I can't really fit into your life. I could never be your perfect Hisana."

Kuchiki's mouth started to open, but she stopped him with a finger on his lips Whatever he had to say at the moment, she didn't want to hear. Then without a change in expression she slapped him across the cheek, and got to enjoy seeing his eyes widen in shock.

"But this wasn't casual for me." Rangiku said with a quiet rage. "I may have had no right to expect this to last, but I wanted it to. And you let me in way too much for me to believe it was just sex for you. I'm sorry I can't be who you want, but you could at least have had the decency to tell me the truth about why you're ending this. I won't make a scene, Byakuya, or go spreading rumors. But I'll always remember that I fell in love with a liar, and with a coward."

Rangiku spun on her heel, walking rapidly away from him. She walked through the house, the yard, and the gate with a blank face.

Then three things happened at once.

The sound of the gate latching behind her echoed in her head, her tears started to fall, and she took off running.

She didn't think about where she was going, just about getting there as quickly as possible so that no one would see the tears she couldn't stop from falling.

She didn't stop running until she was far from Seireitei, staring at an old apple tree. Still crying, she reached a shaking hand up to pluck a fruit from the tree, then collapsed at the base of it.

After a moment she reached a hand to the ground beside her, using a small burst of reiatsu to break a kido she'd cast two years ago.

Her tears started falling harder as the kido broke, and with a trembling hand she picked up the neatly folded haori and pulled it carefully into her lap, her fingers tracing absently over the three horizontal lines inside the chevron_**.**_

Several minutes passed before she spoke, her voice still rough from crying. "Do you remember when we'd sit here, eating apples and dreaming of being Shinigami? It seemed so far away…seemed like such a big dream. Two Rukongai street rats, trying to become the elite of Soul Society. But we made it, didn't we? I wonder if you knew that I never would have made it without you."

Her fingers continued to trace the three lines, over and over, and tears continued to fall down her cheeks. "Everything I ever did was so that I could stay near you. When you became a taicho, I was so happy for you. You'd finally made it; you'd reached your goal and gone as far as you wanted to go. I didn't realize until it was too late that it wasn't enough for you. I mean, I knew _I_ wasn't enough for you, but…"

Her tears fell harder now, and she clutched the haori to her chest like a child would hug a favorite teddy bear. "Why am I never enough for the men I love? You and Byakuya are as different as night and day, and I wasn't enough for either of you."

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_Don't dream too far. Don't loose sight of who you are. Don't remember that rush of joy._

_He could be that boy. But I'm not that girl."_

_Elphaba in "I'm Not That Girl," from the musical "Wicked"_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

TBC…..

* * *

AN2: No one kill me just yet please, the next chapter will be from Byakuya's perspective and will explain things more clearly. Oh, and sorry if this kinda seems to have come out of no where, but I really didn't want to write several chapters worth of half fluff/half angst, where nothing happened but the stolen moments they had together and long scenes of solo introspection as each of them grew more unhappy about having to hide the relationship. I think I put in enough of Rangiku's thoughts here to make it not too sudden, and Byakuya's chapter will explain how he came to this conclusion at the same time as Rangiku did.


	15. Strength

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. I'm just playing with them for awhile. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: Again, apologies for the cliff-hanger I left you with, I got this part out as fast as I could. Things will make a lot more sense now. Remember that this is basically the previous chapter, just from Bya's perspective (and there's a moral to the last chapter and this one kiddies: taking statements out of context can cause…um…misunderstandings…)

* * *

Behind This Mask

By Lady Callista

Chapter 15: Strength

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_Only those with the strength to seize their destiny deserve to have one._

_-a Magic: the Gathering card_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

Byakuya left the supposed remembrance ceremony moments after the Senkaimon closed behind Rangiku and the others. Not that he thought the party would last.

He considered going back to his house, but all he would do there was pace anyway, because he preferred to walk while he thought, and at the moment his mind was whirling with so many thoughts that he knew he had to spend the time to sort them out.

He'd spoken with Rangiku only once at the party. They'd run into each other at the food table, and he'd made a very impersonal comment appropriate for a fellow officer that he barely knew. She'd answered him in kind, but he'd seen both annoyance and hurt cross her face.

He'd been seeing more and more of that lately, not when they were alone together, but when they were in public and had to pretend that they barely knew each other. It had been bothering him for a while as well, but no one, not even Rangiku, could see through his public mask. No matter how well she'd come to know him, he'd been wearing that mask for a hundred years, and even she could not see his emotions when he was wearing it.

He walked the streets of Seireitei randomly as he thought, glad that the hour was late enough that few others were out.

It had been growing more and more difficult to put off the family's insistence that he marry. In the first few months after they thought they'd broken him and Rangiku apart he'd played along with them, even going so far as to occasionally invite a noble lady of another house over for dinner, making it seem like he was looking for the wife they wanted him to find. With him still being relatively young, and no insane wars going on that made the family worry he might die any day, they'd been content with his slow pace as long as it seemed like he was indeed looking for an appropriate woman. But he'd stopped pretending at that nearly five months ago, and they'd grown more insistent as the months passed.

He hadn't stopped because it had bothered Rangiku, he didn't even think she knew, and if she had she'd most likely have understood that he had to keep up appearances. He'd stopped because he'd told Rukia the truth years ago that he didn't see the point in dating anyone he didn't think he could marry, and he knew there was only one woman for him now. One his family would insist he couldn't have.

Still, he knew now what he hadn't known the first time he'd married in defiance of their wishes. He knew how far they were willing to go. He knew how careful he would have to be. He'd have to tell Rangiku the truth about Hisana's death, so she would understand how careful _she _had to be, but he'd been considering for almost a week now how best to tell her.

He'd bring her home with him tonight, he decided, picking up his pace now that he had a destination in mind. He would wait for her outside her barracks, and he would take her home with him. They were done hiding.

He had to wait for much longer than he'd thought he would have to, but at last he caught a flash of pink though the night, and called out her name softly.

She glanced warily around, likely checking for other people, before heading over to him. He almost smiled, knowing that after tonight she wouldn't have to do that anymore. "Everything turned out alright?"

"Well, Ichigo's little sister Karin died, and it turns out that Hitsugaya has been dating her these past two years, so he brought her to Seireitei with all her memories intact, and at the moment they're probably cuddled up on his couch, rejoicing in the fact that they no longer have to hide their relationship."

Byakuya almost winced at the sarcasm in her voice at the end, and reached out to brush his hand over her cheek. "It was your idea to hide our relationship in the first place." He said gently, the smile almost gracing his lips again. His last worry about his plan to go public with their relationship, the worry that perhaps she didn't want to and was growing tired of being with him not of hiding it, faded.

Rangiku sighed. "I know. I thought I would be okay with it, and I was for a long time. It was kinda fun sneaking around behind everyone's backs. But I wish I could walk down the street holding your hand. I wish I could talk to you without having to check and make sure nobody's around."

Given the perfect opening, Byakuya whispered, "Rangiku…" He was forced to trail off as her fingers covered his mouth.

"And it…it was so nice waking up with you this morning. So nice to have fallen asleep with your arms around me." Rangiku's voice was wistful, and he couldn't help but stare at her for a moment, wanting to see the change in her eyes when he told her they could stop hiding.

"Byakuya?"

He realized he'd been silent too long, obviously worrying her. "Rangiku, come back to the mansion with me. Fall asleep in my arms."

Rangiku gasped, "But if anyone sees me…"

"Let them see." Byakuya whispered, realizing she hadn't understood what he meant. "I don't know what the family will do, but I grow tired of this deception as well." His lips covered hers, and when he pulled back a moment later the look of joy in her eyes took his breath away. Remembering how she'd just said she wanted to walk down the street holding his hand, he reached out to her and cradled her hand gently in his own. "Come."

She walked beside him, happiness radiating from her for the first time in far too long. Tomorrow would be soon enough to tell her about what his family might try to do once they knew. Soon enough to tell her how Hisana had died.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The sun had barely risen when Byakuya awoke, but that was normal for him. Rangiku was cuddled against his back, one arm wrapped around him as if even in sleep she'd wanted to be closer to him. He raised her hand to his lips gently before carefully sliding out of her embrace and rising.

Clipping his hairpiece in and donning his shihakusho, haori, and scarf, he slipped quietly from the room to find one of his valets standing outside his door, waiting for him. After being unceremoniously locked out the night before the man had not tried to enter, Byakuya was well trained enough that even the softest knock would have woken him, but he had made certain he would be available as soon as his master had any needs. Byakuya made a note is his head to remember to give the man a raise.

"Send down to the kitchens. Have breakfast for two prepared and sent up to my room." Byakuya commanded, watching over the man's shoulder as his six main advisors strode down the hall towards him. "And cancel any appointments I have. I suspect that I will be too busy for anything else today."

"Yes, Kuchiki-sama." The man said with a bow as he turned and left, his steps quickening as he passed the elder members of the family.

"Kuchiki-sama, do you have a moment?" His main advisor said, giving a bow slightly higher than was appropriate. His tone of voice was barely controlled fury.

"Of course." Byakuya said regally, moving to the door next to his bedroom and entering without bothering to tell them to follow. He knew they would. It was the room he most often used to speak with them, and he went to the cushions on the far end of the room, mentally running through what he planned on saying, worry crossing his face for an instant.

By the time the men entered, Kuchiki-sama sat seiza on a single cushion, facing them. They lined up about halfway into the room, bowing in unison before sinking to the cushions that were laid out for them.

"I can assume I already know much of what you wish to say." Kuchiki-sama said before they had even finished settling themselves down.

"I suppose it is not uncommon for a man such as yourself to have a lover, but it is highly inappropriate to bring her back to the main house." His second most important advisor said without preamble, shooting a warning glance at his main advisor, who at this point was shaking with barely restrained fury. He would be much more furious before Kuchiki-sama was done with them. But the second's voice seemed to contain humor. "We certainly understand a man's needs, even once you are married you would of course be allowed to have a mistress, as long at you are discrete."

Kuchiki-sama replied with a long blink. This was not what he had been expecting. "I would be allowed to, would I?"

Rangiku would have recognized the dangerous note in the tone of voice he had just used. As would Rukia. Yet these men, who had known him far longer than either woman, didn't take the warning.

"Of course." A different advisor spoke up. "As long as you do your duty to the family. It matters to us who you marry, not who you sleep with."

"You claim to not care if I take Matsutomo as a mistress, but what would you say if I said that was not my intention?" Kuchiki-sama mislead them for a moment.

"An occasional lover is fine as well." His main advisor managed to say through clenched teeth.

"Do you think I would dishonor myself by keeping Matsumoto as a lover? A mistress? You're wrong." Kuchiki-sama glared at his team of advisors. "You say it would be fine to marry one woman and have another as a mistress, but I do not agree. I will not dishonor the family, or her, by merely keeping her as a mistress. I will disobey the family instead, and take her as my wife. I've never understood why you thought you had an opinion on who I should marry anyway."

There was silence as they digested that, then disbelief and rage showed on all six faces.

"You would disobey us again, and for another peasant woman?" His senior advisor couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"A fukutaicho can hardly be called a peasant."

"Fukutaicho or not, she's still a nobody. A peasant, just like Hisana was. And just like Hisana, she can be dealt with." The man spoke again, coming closer to speaking the truth about Hisana's death than anyone ever had.

"Don't you dare compare her to Hisana." Kuchiki's voice was flat, yet he allowed his anger to show through at the threat. "The two of them are nothing alike. Hisana was quiet and gentle, the perfect wife, the one any noblemen is supposed to want. Unfortunately, not the perfect wife for this family. No, to survive this family, you have to be strong. Strong the way I am, and the way Rangiku is. I will not give Matsumoto Rangiku up, and may the gods show mercy on anyone who tries to harm her, because I will not. And neither, I think, will she."

And with that proclamation, Kuchiki Byakuya swept from the room to return to his lover. His lover who, if she was agreeable, would soon become his wife.

Byakuya opened the door to his room quietly, not wanting to wake Rangiku if she was still sleeping. Yet before he could even look at the bed, his eyes locked on a fancy green tea set sitting on the table beside the bed. It was painted delicately with sakura, and had been his wedding gift to Hisana.

It was with the tea she drank out of it every morning, he had learned too late, that his advisors had poisoned her.

He knew both fear and anger had to be showing on his face, and he did something he hadn't done in a long time in front of Rangiku. He put on his blank mask.

Seeing the tea set changed everything. He took it for the threat it was, and knew asking her to marry him would have to wait.

"Unfortunately we do not have time for breakfast. I have many things I need to attend to this morning." He said in lieu of greeting her. He did, however, make sure he stepped just close enough to see that the cup beside the teapot had not been used.

Rangiku rose to face him, smiling seductively. "Surely we have time for something." She said as she got closer to him, sliding her hands up his chest.

He captured her hands in his own and stepped away. He had to step away, because he couldn't do this if she was touching him. He knew his advisors would be listening from the next room, and was certain the tea set was their doing. Whether it was actually poisoned or not was not the point. The point was that they were reminding him they could kill her, probably having known how their conversation with him would go. This was one last reminder of why he should leave Rangiku.

Rangiku sighed, and he forced himself to not react to the pain he saw on her face. "When should I return? I was thinking we could have dinner…"

"I will be very busy for the next several weeks." His voice was still quiet, yet behind his mask was something too close to panic for comfort. He would have to do this differently than he had planned.

For them to have escalated to the tea so quickly changed things.

He would have to push her away for now, just for a little while. Just until he could get away from them and explain things to her. He'd warned her that the family could be dangerous, surely she would understand what he was doing.

"Weeks?" Rangiku spun to face him, her face as blank as the one he was showing her. "So what you're saying is its been fun, but don't bother coming back."

"Be reasonable, Matsumoto." Kuchiki-sama said with a blank face. The feeling of panic behind his mask grew stronger. She wasn't understanding. "Surely you can agree that this has run it's course."

"It has?" Rangiku asked in a dangerously quiet voice.

"Come now." His voice was still almost completely expressionless, but he stressed one phrase, willing her to understand. Although her face was blank, he could see pain in her eyes. "Surely you did not expect this to last? I told you that _my family wished _me to remarry someone they felt worthy of me. You knew we were merely enjoying ourselves."

"I knew no such thing." All emotion vanished from Rangiku's eyes, and he found himself facing a woman with slight amusement on both her face and in her eyes. He recognized the mask that most never knew existed. "But I suppose that your opinion is the one that matters, isn't it Kuchiki-sama? But will you allow me to say one thing?"

Kuchiki-sama raised an eyebrow, while inside he felt like dying. She believed him. She didn't understand this had something to do with his family. But he couldn't back out now. He had to concentrate on hurting her as little as possible, and hoping she would forgive him when he could finally tell her the truth.

To his surprise, Rangiku stepped closer to him before speaking softly. "It's true you never promised me anything, but I never pushed for it either. As much as I came to dislike having to hide our relationship, I understood the reasons. Until last night, I never asked you to make the relationship public, and I've never asked for marriage or anything like that. I understand that I can't really fit into your life. I could never be your perfect Hisana."

Byakuya blinked, his mask nearly shattering. Where in the world had that come from? He'd never, in all the time they'd been together, made her think that he compared her to Hisana at all, let alone that he compared them and found her lacking. He opened his mouth, unable to allow this go to on. The family be damned, he couldn't do this, not even just to buy them a little time.

Her fingers on his lips stopped him, and there was no change in her expression to give him warning before a powerful slap to the side of his face spun his head to the side. He snapped his head back to face her, eyes wide, all words momentarily forgotten. She had slapped him! Whatever was going on in her head was even worse than he had thought.

"But this wasn't casual for me." There was a quiet, simmering rage in her voice that warned him he would get hit harder if he dared to interrupt her. "I may have had no right to expect this to last, but I wanted it to. And you let me in way too much for me to believe it was just sex for you. I'm sorry I can't be who you want, but you could at least have had the decency to tell me the truth about why you're ending this. I won't make a scene, Byakuya, or go spreading rumors. But I'll always remember that I fell in love with a liar, and with a coward."

His shock and disbelief were so intense that she had stalked from the room before he could manage to put together a coherent sentence. Even after she left, he spent nearly a minute staring at the door. What the hell had just happened?

Then her parting shot penetrated his mind, and he sank to the bed, mask shattering completely.

…_I fell in love with…_

She loved him. She'd just admitted that she loved him. He'd hoped she did, was fairly certain she did, but hadn't been positive. Although at the moment she might be trying to change her mind about that.

He tried going back over the conversation in his head, still uncertain how it had fallen apart so quickly. After all they'd shared in the past two years, how could she believe he would dump her like that? How could she have so little trust in him? Especially knowing his family would not approve. He'd even tried to hint to her that his family had…

Byakuya's eyes had been trailing around the room as he pondered, and suddenly he noticed that the only painting in his room, one Rukia had given him years ago, was hanging crookedly. It was on the wall that bordered the room him and his advisors had just been in. If she'd been eavesdropping…

But no, if she'd heard the whole conversation she would have heard him say he planned to marry her. Would have heard him say he didn't care what his advisors thought. And that certainly would have tipped her off that he had to be lying to her for some reason. Even though he'd told her he'd try to never lie to her, she would have realized…

_Hisana was quiet and gentle, the perfect wife._

_I could never be your perfect Hisana._

But if she'd heard only part of the conversation… The maids would have come in at some point to leave the tea and breakfast, which would have interrupted her listening. And he had no way of knowing if she'd heard the start of the conversation, but was certain she hadn't heard the end. Not from her reaction…

Byakuya felt like his heart was going to shatter the way his mask had.

She had _believed _everything he said to her.

She truly thought all they had shared had meant nothing to him. Thought he was simply bored with her, done with her. Not to mention whatever she had misunderstood from what she overheard. She had to be hurting so much…

Byakuya's gaze locked on the green and pink tea pot, and he picked it up and hurled it against the wall.

Not giving a single thought to the consequences, he slid open the door to his balcony, reached out with his reiastu, and a shunpo later he was gone. The only thing that mattered now was finding Rangiku.

OoOoOoOoO

Rangiku's reiatsu was spiking randomly enough that it took him longer than he would have liked to locate her. He also hadn't expected to find her in the Rukongai, and the cluttered layout of the town had made it take even longer to find her. But he could feel how close she was now. He stared at the run-down shack in front of him, knowing she was behind it but uncertain as to why. What was this place to her that she would choose to come here when her heart was broken?

He moved quickly through the shack, seeing her sitting under an apple tree, a white garment clutched to her chest as if it was the only thing anchoring her to the world. She was sobbing brokenly, and his heart almost broke as she whispered, "Why am I never enough for the men I love? You and Byakuya are as different as night and day, and I wasn't enough for either of you."

"That is not true." Byakuya whispered, stopping only a few feet from her. He saw the Sanbantai insignia on the haori she clutched, and suddenly realized where they were. She'd told him once how her and Gin had lived together in a little shack in the Rukongai, although he hadn't known she'd saved one of the man's haori. The fact that she had come here, to speak to a man who had come only one small step away from betraying her completely, warned him of just how upset she was.

"Go away." Rangiku hissed.

Byakuya crushed the temper that was beginning to rise. Even assuming he was correct and she'd overheard part of his conversation with his advisors, which was the best explanation for what had happened, he'd thought she knew him better than that. She obviously hadn't heard everything he'd said, just enough to interpret something completely wrong. Wasn't that always the way?

He kept his voice calm as he replied, "I will do so in a few moments if you still wish it, but I need to speak with you first."

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_"If fate is a millstone, then we are the grist. __There is nothing we can do. _

_So I wish for strength. __If I cannot protect them from the wheel, _

_Then give me a strong blade, __And enough strength_

_To shatter fate."_

_from Bleach, manga opening, vol. 23_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

TBC…

AN2: See, I told you not to kill me after the previous chapter. Now you know why Bya did what he did, he just has to explain it to Ran… Anyway, thanks for those of you who have told me which story in the series you want written next, I am still taking opinions. So far IchiHime have a slight lead on RenRuk, with several votes for a HitsuKarin/NWM sequel.


	16. Princess

Disclaimer: Kubo is god, Kubo is king, Tite Kubo owns everything. Can you honestly even believe this would happen in cannon? Although you know you would love it…. I also do not own any of the quotes I use at the start of each chapter. They were all found on the internet, and if they have an author I say who it is.

Author's Notes: And so we come to the end. Enjoy! (Oh, and I did manage to sneak a little Karin goodness into this for those that followed me to this story from No Warm Memories.)

* * *

Behind This Mask

By Lady Callista

Chapter 16: Princess

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

"_Forget the risk and take the fall,_

_If it's meant to be it's worth it all."_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

Rangiku's tears fell harder now, and she clutched the haori to her chest like a child would hug a favorite teddy bear. "Why am I never enough for the men I love? You and Byakuya are as different as night and day, and I wasn't enough for either of you."

"That is not true." Byakuya's voice said quietly from only a few feet away.

"Go away." Rangiku hissed, annoyed with herself for being too upset to have sensed him approaching.

"I will do so in a few moments if you still wish it, but I need to speak with you first." Byakuya replied as he crossed to her.

Rangiku's eyebrows rose as he sat on the ground beside her, but otherwise she kept her face as blank as possible. "I have nothing to say to you." And she turned so that she couldn't see him.

"You had plenty to say earlier." He replied as he touched his cheek where she'd slapped him. "And I gather from some of what you said that you overheard some of my conversation with my advisors."

"I heard enough, Kuchiki-sama." She said flatly.

Byakuya flinched at the anger he could feel under the words. "You did not, because you obviously misunderstood."

"I misunderstood? I think you made yourself pretty clear." Rangiku couldn't understand why he had come. What could there be left to say?

"At some point I will have to ask you what you heard, and tell you what you missed." Byakuya replied, pain obvious in his voice. She had to have interpreted things the worst way possible to be this upset with him.

Rangiku did not reply, and Byakuya took a deep breath and said the hardest thing he had ever spoken. "You are correct that I'm a coward and a liar, but not for the reason you think."

Rangiku couldn't keep the shock from her face at his words, and she glanced over at him for the first time since he'd sat down. Hearing him admit that he was being a coward was something she had never expected.

Her eyes widened even more as she took in the raw emotions playing over his face. They were in such contrast to the completely blank face he'd worn when he broke up with her that she didn't know what to think.

"I do not know what exactly you did or did not hear, but as you commented on not being as perfect as my first wife I assume you heard part of the conversation about her. But you are missing one very important piece of information. She did not die of an illness, as most people think. She was poisoned by my family. When I objected to the comment about comparing her and you, it had nothing to do with my feelings for either of you. It was a threat against you, and I treated it as such." Although emotions continued to flash across his face, he said it matter-of-factly.

"Poison?" Rangiku asked in horror, any other emotion momentarily forgotten. "But if you knew about it…"

"I didn't know until it was too late." Byakuya said quietly, pain radiating through both his voice and face. "And the poison left no trace in her system. I cannot prove that…"

"How…"

"Every morning before she rose for the day, she would have a cup of green tea. She had one favorite tea set that she always told the maid to use…"

Rangiku stared at him, remembering the look on his face when he'd seen the tea set beside the bed, and realized that she'd been completely wrong about why he was angry when he saw it. She'd assumed he was angry because his wife's tea set was being used by someone else.

"They tried to _poison me_?" Rangiku's voice rose shrilly at the end.

"Or at least they wanted to remind me of what could happen. I'm not certain." Byakuya paused, and a single tear trailed down his cheek. A few months ago Byakuya would have done anything in his power to keep anyone from seeing him cry. Not that it would have been difficult, as nothing since his first wife's death had ever made him do so. But he found he had no pride left where Rangiku was concerned. "I'd just finished telling my men that I had no intention of giving you up, but my only thought when I saw the tea set was to push you away. To keep you safe. To make them think I didn't care about you so that they wouldn't go after you."

"You lied to me to protect me." Rangiku whispered, reaching out hesitantly to wipe the tear from his cheek. When he caught her hand afterwards and held it she didn't object.

Byakuya nodded. "I was a coward for not telling you the truth right then. But all I could think about was that they might kill you too." He hesitated, then reached out with the hand that wasn't clasping hers and took her other hand, removing it gently from the haori it still gripped. "You were afraid of not being enough for another man, and I was afraid of being the death of another woman."

The honestly in his voice was obvious, and she saw it in his eyes as well. But more than that she saw the fear. Of all the things he'd ever shared with her, this was one thing he'd never spoken of.

She understood what it meant that he was telling her now. Rangiku's eyes flooded in sympathy, and the last of her anger drained away. "I'm sorry. I never imagined..."

"I planned on telling you in a few days, when things had settled down a little. I planned to find a way to convince the family, or to make sure you were protected. I never planned to give you up, and I'm sorry I made you think that way."

"A few days?" Rangiku questioned. "Then why are you here now?"

"That was the plan I formed the instant I saw the tea. But I didn't know then that you'd overheard me talking to my men and come to the wrong conclusion. I…" Byakuya took a deep breath, still unable to believe what this woman had done to him in only a few short years. "I thought you knew me better than that. You knew the family would not approve, and I thought you would figure out that I was lying. I hoped you would play along. But when I realized you thought I meant what I was saying…"

A hundred years of not showing emotions, of pretending they didn't exist, and somehow she'd brought all his emotions to the surface. He could and did still hide them around others, but he could no longer wear that mask when he was alone with her.

Putting it on when he'd walked into the bedroom that morning had been a huge mistake, and he swore to himself it had been the last time he would ever wear it in front of her. "I never wanted to hurt you like that. You can't know what it did to me when I realized you must have misheard my earlier conversation."

"Byakuya…"

He saw the forgiveness on her face, and heard it in her voice, but had one more thing to say. "And I'll never be able to forget that because of my cowardice the first time you said you were in love with me was with anger and pain in your voice."

Rangiku's eyes filled with tears again, and he released her hands to gently cup her face, his thumbs tenderly brushing away her tears.

"I couldn't let you believe my lies. I couldn't leave you in that much pain." His eyes locked with hers, and the sheer depth of feeling flowing from them almost took her breath away. "Rangiku, I love you. Before the tea set made me loose my mind, I was planning on asking you to marry me."

The tears flowed faster, but the joy that blossomed over her face made her look more radiant than he had ever seen her. Byakuya leaned in to kiss her, but she put a hand lightly on his chest to hold him back slightly.

She answered the slight worry the came into his eyes with a small smile, "You heard me say that I fell in love with you, that's not the same thing." She lifted her hand from his chest to her lips, kissing her palm, and then gently cupped the cheek she had slapped. This time there was nothing but joy and wonder in her voice. "Byakuya, I love you. And if you still want to ask, the answer will be yes."

Byakuya's arms shot around her in a heartbeat, a look of amazement mixed with awe and love filling his eyes for the instant she saw them before she was crushed into his chest in the most tender yet strong embrace she'd ever felt. She wrapped her arms around him and held on just as tightly.

"Matsumoto Rangiku, will you marry me?" He whispered it in her ear, his heart hitching even though he knew the answer.

"Yes, yes I will." Rangiku whispered back, drawing back just enough to kiss him with all the love in her heart.

On the ground beside them, the last vestige of Ichimaru Gin lay completely forgotten.

OoOoOoOoOoO

Rangiku could barely keep herself from whistling as she skipped to the Juubantai barracks. Byakuya had left her to go and deal with his family. He promised her that the next time he saw her, he would be able to propose marriage to her in the middle of Seireitei. It was a lovely thought.

She turned into the practice field, intending to short-cut across it to the office, when she noticed a small, dark haired girl sitting by the side of the field, looking decidedly uncomfortable in a dark green yukata.

"Karin-chan?" Rangiku asked quietly. "What are you doing here alone?"

"Matsumoto-fukutaicho." Karin jerked to her feet, bowing awkwardly. "Um, Toshiro just had some paperwork that couldn't wait, and I said I wanted to watch the sparring…"

Rangiku couldn't help herself. She laughed. "Please, Karin-chan. My friends call me Ran-chan. Or Rangiku if you must."

"But we're not friends, I mean, I barely know you…"

Rangiku stepped closer to the young girl, putting an arm around her shoulder. Her voice was not her normal happy-go-lucky mask as she said, "I love him too, you know. Not in the same way that you do, but not any less strongly. There's no way that someone who makes him this happy won't be my friend."

Karin coughed awkwardly, although she did lean into the other woman for a moment before pulling away and putting her hand on the hilt of the zanpakuto tucked through her belt. "So, um, will you show me how to use this?"

Rangiku cocked her head. "Why wouldn't you ask one of the other men? To begin against someone of my strength…"

Karin chuckled, knowing the comment wasn't meant to be bragging. "I tried to ask them, but apparently all of them know that I'm their taicho's girlfriend, and none of them want to risk hurting me."

Rangiku laughed. "Ah, men. What do you want to know?"

"Well, all the powers I had while I was…alive…I don't have them anymore. I can still talk to Kyokon, but she doesn't tell me things anymore. I can't listen to souls, or talk to them." Karin admitted in a whisper.

"And you thought that maybe if you learned to fight with her…" Rangiku had to admit it wasn't a bad idea.

"You mentioned yesterday that my powers might shift, and become more like a traditional zanpakuto. Which means I have to learn to use it as you do. I have to achieve shikai and bankai."

"Karin-chan, you have to understand that will takes years, decades even. I've been training for bankai for almost two years now, and I'm still missing something." Rangiku said gently. "It took me over 12 years to achieve shikai."

"But I've already had the power once, I already learned once how to earn it. It should be easier this time around."

Rangiku smiled. From what little she'd figured out about Karin's power, Kyokan apparently had some things in common with Haineko. It took some deep, emotional revelation for them to unlock the trust they needed in their zanpakuto in order to advance in power. "Step onto the field. I will show you how to use her." And if she understood how Kyokon worked, she might be the best person there could be to train Karin. Karin's first power involved listening to other souls, so it was logical to assume that to unlock that power she would have to learn how to listen, really listen, to Kyokon. Rangiku was pretty sure she knew how to do that.

"Draw." Rangiku ordered even as she drew Haineko. "From now on there are only four motions. You will make only one of four moves."

"One." Rangiku held Haineko vertically, her hands in front of her right hip, with the sword angled slightly towards the center of her body. She waited for Karin to copy the move before moving onto the next one.

"Two." Rangiku slid her hands over to her left hip, twisting her wrists so that the sword still angled towards the space in front of her face. Again she waited for imitation.

"Three." She flipped her hands up until they held the sword horizontally at her eye level.

" Four." The sword back to being vertical, she swept it sideways across her body, as she would do to force away a thrust.

"Now, I am going to attack you. I am going to call out a number as I begin each strike, and you will move into that position. If you are in the wrong one, I will strike you." Rangiku said harshly, praying she was right about how this would work. Maybe all the sleepless nights she spent trying to figure out what Haineko needed her to do could help someone else.

Rangiku began slowly, calling out each move and giving Karin a second to think before striking. Gradually she sped up, waiting for Karin to settle fully into the motion. She still called out her moves, but it now seemed as if Karin reacted just an instant before she spoke, as if someone else had told her what the move would be.

Then she tested her theory. "Three." She called out as she drew back, preparing to thrust. Karin's katana flew up to eye level in a horizontal block, and Rangiku prepared to thrust under it. Yet even as she began moving, Karin's sword flashed down to parry away her thrust, and Karin used the motion to spin around, ending inside Rangiku's range with Kyokon at the older woman's throat.

Karin froze in horror and dropped the zanpakuto as she stepped back.

But Rangiku only laughed, "Good job, Karin-chan. You've already learned lesson one, and I'm glad of it, as I'm not sure Toshiro would forgive even me if I hurt you."

"What…what happened?"

Rangiku smiled as she led the young girl back off the field. "You don't realize you can hear Kyokon, but you still can. She was giving you the moves a tiny bit before I did, and when I called out the wrong one she saw it and moved to save you. That's the first lesson. Listen to and fight _with_ your zanpakuto."

"Will you show me more?" Karin asked eagerly.

"I will, but at the moment I have some things in the office I need to take care of."

"Oh, um, okay…" Karin stuttered.

"Karin-chan," Rangiku said quietly, "Is everything alright? Do you want to talk about…anything?"

"Of course I'm alright, I…what do you mean anything?" Karin cocked her head curiously.

"I just…I saw something flash through your eyes last night when Hitsugaya said you would be staying with him, and I'm assuming you had never….and I'm being intrusive but you don't really know anyone here to talk to about…um….what goes on between…" Rangiku flushed slightly, glad she was not a mother. She didn't want a lifetime of awkward talks. But she'd always seen Hitsugaya as a combination of younger brother and friend, along with taicho, which meant she had to ask Karin about this.

Karin laughed suddenly as she understood. "No, it wasn't…we haven't…Rangiku-san, he just wanted to hold me. I…I'm not ready for more than that, and Toshiro would never push me. But how could I not want to hold him? To fall asleep in his arms and wake knowing he would still be there? I wasn't even really nervous about it."

Rangiku smiled then, it seemed like such a small thing, but there really was something to be said for waking in the arms of the one you loved. "You love him that much."

"And I trust him that much." Karin replied softly. "I would, no…I did, trust him with my life once already. And I always will. Haven't you ever trusted anyone like that?"

Rangiku's mind flashed to the one person she had ever trusted with her life. And instead of the single face that had always been there, she now saw a different face, the one she had always seen only a dim background.

Trust. Absolute trust. That was the only thing that had been truly missing. That was the tiny bit she'd held back from Byakuya, the last piece of the puzzle to loving him as much as she had once loved another. No, more than she had ever loved another. For although it was a different piece with different people, she'd always held a piece of herself back. Even from Gin.

"Rangiku-san?" Karin's voice came, slightly worried at the woman's silence.

Rangiku was about to answer her when she felt Byakuya arrive at the gate to the training yard. She rose to her full height and a shunpo later stood in the middle of the area. Her fukutaicho voice ordered, "Halt. Everyone clear the yard, right now."

"Byakuya, I challenge you." She called out before everyone had managed to comply.

Byakuya's eyebrows rose at her audacity. She had taken him at his word that the next time he saw her his family would know everything and agree, otherwise calling out his name in public could have been a very bad thing.

"I will spar with you anytime, Rangiku." Byakuya replied with a slight smirk as he stepped onto the field. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the Shinigami banished to the sidelines faint dead away.

She released Haineko immediately and sent a tornado of ash flying at him. He intercepted with Senbonzakura, and the fight was on.

Rangiku fought as strongly as she could, trying to make him use his bankai. But he wouldn't. He never did when he trained with her anymore, not since she had said she was going to train for bankai alone. But if she was right… "Use bankai, please."

His eyes flashed in puzzlement, but he obliged her. "Scatter, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi."

Rangiku fought with renewed vigor, but with his bankai released she would last less than a minute and she knew that very well. But that wouldn't matter.

She went for an easy attack, and then, as she had with Karin a minute ago, purposely lowered her guard slightly. Byakuya reacted instinctively to the opening his training allowed him to notice before he even really saw it, and a thousand pink blades swept in towards her body.

And Rangiku let her mind go blank and closed her eyes. She didn't direct Haineko to defend herself.

She trusted Byakuya with her life. Trusted him not to kill her. She had trusted Gin not to kill her, but had never let herself fully love him. She had let herself fully love Byakuya, but had not trusted him in the way she needed to. Because fully trusting another person again was the last thing Haineko demanded of her.

The great cat said that she couldn't fully trust herself, or Haineko, until she fully trusted another person as well. And that was the last thing she needed for bankai. She spared an absent thought of thanks to Yoruichi for explaining to her that women didn't necessarily have to physically beat their zanpakuto.

The millisecond it took for his blades to reach her seemed to stretch out into an eternity.

She smelled the ozone before she heard the crash of lighting striking something, and when she opened her eyes her mouth opened as well, a name she had never spoken before.

"Maneki Haineko. Ban-Kai!"

A bolt of lighting shot out of the hilt of her zanpakuto again, this time aimed at Byakuya. The first bolt, she somehow knew even though her eyes had been closed, had coursed up her body, forcing away all of the blades, although they had already stopped millimeters from her skin.

She had trusted him not to kill her, even by accident, and he hadn't. She had complete trust in him, and in herself, and in Haineko.

And now she had bankai.

Haineko's ash still swirled around her, and using only her mind she directed it out, already understanding part of what she was supposed to do. The ash battered at Byakuya, drawing his attention, forcing him where she wanted him. And unlike the legend that gave Maneki her name, she did not want him out of the way of the lighting. She wanted him in the path of it.

His blades swirled around him as he blocked all her attacks, although she could tell how much effort it took for him to block the lighting. Breathing heavily, Rangiku shot out one last blast of lighting as she collapsed to one knee.

Byakuya did not counter attack, but sealed his zanpakuto and flashed to her side, obviously worried that she could pass out as she had when Haineko first manifested.

But although she felt tired, she also felt more elated than anything as she calmly called Haineko back to katana form and slid her into her sheath. "Thank you." She whispered.

"I could have killed you." He whispered harshly, torn between the need to shake her harshly and hug her close. He did neither, training for proper public behavior just barely exerting itself.

"I had to trust that you wouldn't." Rangiku whispered, sinking to both knees but turning so that she could meet his eyes. "I had to do the hardest thing I've ever done. I had to trust another man not to kill me."

"Ran-chan…" His voice held a note of wonder, understanding what she was saying. "I love you."

"I love you so much." She whispered back.

Byakuya was about to reply when a single pair of hands began clapping.

Rangiku's head snapped up, and she locked eyes with Hitsugaya, who someone had obviously called out, likely worried as to why she had challenged Byakuya as she had. The slight smile on his face as he looked at her and Byakuya told her that, somehow, he'd known about them. But then she'd known for the past two years that he was sneaking to Earth to see Karin, and he was generally more observant than she was.

A moment later they were surrounded by a thunderous roar of applause, as all the Shinigami who had been kicked off the field had stayed to watch. And each seemed to have called his ten best friends to come over as well. Although all would likely have continued staring with their mouths hanging open had Hitsugaya not been there.

She realized that she was holding Byakuya's hand, she didn't even remember when she'd taken it, and quickly started to release him.

A slight smile, meant for her alone, graced his lips as he shook his head slightly, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing it gently before lowering it again, although not letting go. Other than anger, that was the most emotion he'd shown in public in what felt like forever. "We don't have to hide anymore, remember."

Hitsugaya-taicho still stood at the edge of the field, Karin at his side. He began to walk into the field then, and Karin started to follow, hesitated, then stayed where she was.

"I have never been more proud of you, Rangiku. I knew you could do it, congratulations." Hitsugaya said quietly, then raised his voice to the crowd. "On behalf of all the Juubantai, I congratulate Matsumoto Rangiku for achieving bankai. On behalf of all the Gotei Juusantai, I congratulate her." There was another eruption of applause, along with shouts and cheering.

Hitsugaya Toshiro glanced at Rangiku as she got to her feet, and the side of his mouth twisted into a slight smirk before he raised his voice again. "I'm fairly certain there will be a party tonight, so I'm just going to give the whole division tomorrow off."

That was greeted with an even louder roar of happiness.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

The family really hadn't been as hard to manipulate as he'd feared they would be, Byakuya reflected as they walked into the gardens behind the Kuchiki mansion a short while later. Hitsugaya had dismissed Rangiku for the day, and she'd asked if they could sit in his meditation garden.

He'd finally played his trump card. Once the family had realized he was serious about giving up leadership of the house to Rukia if they fought him on this, they'd agreed. They hadn't really had a choice.

Byakuya thought back on the conversation as he lay back against a tree, pulling Rangiku into his arms.

He'd seen the wheels already turning in their heads, and had added one more thing as he left the room. His voice had been calm as always, but the advisors couldn't help but see the anger banked in his stormy eyes. If Rangiku died, or if they ever tried to influence her in any way, he would give up leadership of the house to Rukia. The thought of Rukia and Renji as the leaders of the Kuchiki House had stopped any plotting remarkably quickly.

They lay there in companionable silence for a few moments, which was eventually broken by her soft sigh.

"What are you thinking about?" Byakuya asked quietly as she curled into him.

"One of the few things I remember from my life is playing games with my friends. We always played at what we wanted to be when we grew up." Rangiku sighed, it felt so strange to talk to someone about what she remembered. One of the few things no Shinigami ever wanted to talk about was that they almost always did remember parts of their lives. "Humans have so many jobs to pick from. There were so many things I wanted to be. And the one thing that all of my friends wanted to be, that I never did, turned out to be what I got."

"They wanted to be a death god marrying into a noble house?" He asked incredulously.

Rangiku chuckled. "A princess. I must be the only little girl who never wanted to be a princess."

This time he chuckled. "Well, you will be. But what did you want to be?"

Rangiku smiled, one of her hands sliding off his chest to rest on Haineko, who she had set at her side when they sat down to rest. "A samurai. I always wanted to be a samurai."

Byakuya laughed, kissing her fondly on the forehead. "Now why does that not surprise me?"

"Although I did like one thing about princesses."

"And what was that?"

Rangiku tilted her head up to meet his eyes. "They always got to marry a wonderful, handsome man and live happily ever after."

Byakuya leaned down and kissed her lovingly. "Happily ever after sounds good to me."

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

_Because thou hast the power and own'st thy grace_

_To look through and behind this mask of me_

_And behold my souls true face._

_--Elizabeth Barret Browning, Sonnets from the Portuguese_

_OoOoOoOoOoO_

**THE END**

* * *

AN2: Someone please tell me the last lines aren't too cheesy. Okay, anyway, I really hope you've enjoyed this story. Reviews would be wonderful.

Kyokon means Mirror Soul, and is Karin's power. For full details, see No Warm Memories.

Also curious as to what people think about Ran's bankai. Maneki Haineko means Beckoning Ash Cat, and is a reference to the Goddess of Mercy, because of a story of how a nobleman followed a cat who was beckoning to him and an instant later lightning struck the ground where he'd been standing. It's normally a three colored cat, white with orange and black spots, and often has a red collar. Statues of these cats, one paw raised and beckoning, can be found throughout Japan. I researched many different legends of cats while trying to come up with Ran's bankai, but I really liked this one because the gray ash of Haineko always made me think of a dust storm, and we've seen her use it to make twisters. And we all know lighting can come from twisters. It was really the only legend I found that seemed to work with what we already knew of her zanpakuto. Opinions are welcome, as I may at some point be flushing out what she can do a little more.

Oh, thanks to all of you who commented on what my next story should be. We have a winner, although it was close. So don't forget to look for "I'll Stand By You," which should start coming out later this week. That one's Ichigo and Orihime's story. It probably won't be as long as this or No Warm Memories, but will be at minimum four or five parts. After that I'm most likely going to tackle Rukia and Renji unless people have another story they'd prefer, in which case I may be willing to do that. I'm still not sure if I have the ambition to work on two stories at once or not, but I'm considering starting "Girl Talk" soon as well, since the chapters of it will fit well into "Behind This Mask," as well as give you hits of what will happen in other stories. Any input is appreciated.


	17. Sequel Announcement & Omake

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. I am making no money from this. Tite Kubo owns all, I'm just playing with them for a while.

AN: For those who don't like reading omake: The newest story in this series is called "Ghost Within Your Eyes," and will begin being posted within a few hours. It's a direct sequel to this story, and starts just after their wedding, which was only a few months after he proposed. Although I will warn you that it's a very angst-filled story, as it deals with more memories of Gin. And as I proudly ship both couples, anyone who likes them both as well, or who liked "For Her Smile," should really like this as well. It is Bya/Ran at heart, although it will take a little while to establish as that. So please try and bear with the Gin/Ran if you don't like them, although from what I remember of reviews for this story, most of you like them or are at least okay with it because of how I write them. With that said, please enjoy this little omake, and I hope you'll like the new story.

* * *

Omake: Dignity 

Rukia and Orihime chatted over tea as they stood in Orihime's kitchen, making themselves some dinner.. Despite the Winter War being over for years now, Karakura Town was still a hot spot for Hollows, and having Ichigo and his friends, with their high levels of reiatsu, living there, pretty much guaranteed it always would be. Which meant that various Shinigami dropped by randomly, particularly if their careful monitoring of the town suggested anything even slightly odd.

Also, there was the fact that so many of them were friends with the humans.

They had just finished making dinner, and Orihime carried the tray into the living room, putting in down on the table next to a bowl of fruit. They were just about to kneel at the table when a Senkaimon appeared in the middle of the room.

Both girls glanced over at it in shock.

And both their jaws dropped when Matsumoto Rangiku and Kuchiki Byakuya stepped out of it together. Holding hands.

"Nii…nii-sama?" Rukia managed to stutter out after a moment. After the scene Rangiku had made just a few days ago in Seireitei, both by achieving bankai and by being seen holding hands with Byakuya afterwards, she had expected something like this to happen eventually. But not nearly this soon. And she would swear she could almost see an expression that looked suspiciously like a small smile on her brother's face.

"Ran-chan?" Orihime's shocked voice came a second later, her eyes focused on their joined hands.

Rangiku smiled at both girls. "Make sure you're in Seireitei a few months from now, Rukia-chan. You're invited to a wedding. Oh, and Orihime-chan, you too of course. And Ichigo and the others."

Rukia's legs gave out, and she sank to her knees.

Orihime only gaped at them, then a switch seemed to flip in her head and she gave them a beaming smile. "That's wonderful! Here, we were just about to have dinner, won't you sit down and join us?"

Rukia's eyes widened further as Rangiku moved over to the table and knelt down, pulling an unresisting Byakuya behind her.

"Thanks so much, Orihime-chan." Rangiku smiled as she grabbed an apple off the table and bit into it. "I've missed your cooking so much!"

Rukia finally managed to speak. "I won't claim to be surprised, as I knew, but… But I thought you didn't want anyone else to know…"

Rangiku frowned. "Well, it's okay now. I believe you and Renji were used as a bargaining point."

Byakuya was going to reply, but found himself distracted by watching Rangiku bite into the fruit. He resisted reaching out and wiping a bit of juice off of her chin for fear that his sister would faint. He imagined kissing those lips, nearly as red as the apple she held, and knew Rukia would faint for sure at the sight of that. It was one thing to know, another to see.

"But Nii-sama, I mean, the Kuchiki name, and the honor and pride of the House… I know I didn't care about any of that with Renji, but I've never claimed to toe the line. You always did, at least in public. And don't get me wrong Rangiku-san, but… the dignity and the…"

Byakuya chuckled now, glancing at Rangiku for a brief moment before replying, "Yes, this is the most undignified thing I've ever done, isn't it?"

Rather than being insulted, Rangiku chuckled with him.

"But when did all this happen?" Orihime echoed faintly.

Rangiku smirked. "Well, I've always thought he was one of the most handsome men in Seireitei, but also the most out of reach. I decided I was up for a challenge one day, and…"

The End

* * *

AN2: As Bya/Ran were tied for second in my poll, and I'm currently writing another story for Renji & Rukia, who were tied for first in my poll with Ran/Gin, I really shouldn't be writing this now. But I had quite a few people who loved the parts of ByaRan in Until The Last Breath so much, and I had so many ideas for expanding on their parts, that I just had to write this. And I've had lots of requests in the past for a sequel to Behind This Mask, I think more than for any other story I've written. But I've also had a ton of requests for a sequel to For Her Smile, and this story will kinda fulfill that as well. I'm hoping to alternate Ghost Within Your Eyes with chapters of The One I Waited For, but will see if my plot bunnies let that happen or not. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed, please review, if not this than the new story, and remember this was omake, I know they're OOC.


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